Even The Major Needs a Mate
by Bella Marie Whitlock
Summary: What if it wasn't Edward that Bella was destined for? What if there was someone else in the Cullen family in need of a mate? What if lying dormant inside of Jasper Hale, one Major Whitlock was waiting very patiently for his? Can Jekyll and Hyde learn to coexist harmoniously? Can beauty learn to love the beast? Rated M for Language, Lemons and Violence
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

**AN: Okay, so this is me attempting my own stab at a Bella/Major pairing. So many people have done this duo so well that I hope I too can do them justice. I'm pulling ideas for this from several stories I've read, so if you see something that another author thought of first, the credit goes to them. And as always, I don't own Twilight. Though I do own several beautiful porcelain masks!**

* * *

 **Alice's POV**

There was just something missing. We never really knew what it was, but it just never quite felt whole. Jasper and I were mates, there was no room for doubt about that of course, and we were happy. Sometimes, it just felt like that wasn't enough. There were parts of Jasper I couldn't touch. Parts that we had together strived to keep buried.

He was like a duck on water. Calm, cool and collected on the surface. The Jasper I had access to was peaceful and serene. The Jasper that was _my_ Jasper was perfect for me. He was mellow and introverted where I was hyper and extroverted. We complimented each other so well.

But there was another side of Jasper. Beneath the water he was fighting always fighting to keep himself afloat. His mind was full of strategies and contingencies at all times. He saw the world in terms of enemies and allies, though one could easily enough become the other. I had lived with Jasper long enough to know a lot about both versions of himself. But it was only part of him that I connected to.

I had started to think I was simply failing him. That maybe I just needed to suck it up and try to relate to The Major. Maybe I just wasn't doing a good enough job. Until one fateful day when I finally realized that it wasn't _my_ job at all.

We were sitting in the living room packing for our upcoming move to Washington when I saw it.

"Esme could you please pass me the packing t…" my eyes flew open as the vision began and I gasped from the force of it, dropping the ceramic item I had started placing into a packing crate.

 _We had been going to school for a while when a new girl showed up. The moment Jasper saw her he fell to his knees. I knew right then that it wasn't my Jasper that was seeing her. It was The Major. And if he had been human? Then the toughest son of a bitch on the planet would have been crying! Finally it all made sense._

 _She was the missing piece of our domestic puzzle. This beautiful girl with her chocolate brown eyes, her casual wardrobe and her untamed tresses belonged to him as much as I did. But it wasn't going to be all sunshine and rainbows because the next moment, Edward attacked._

When the vision was over, my eyes returned to my surroundings and everyone was staring at me waiting to hear what I had seen. I needed to fix this. I needed to stop what was coming. Well at least Edward's role in things. "Change of plans. Edward, you need to go to Denali to stay with our family there while we are in Forks. There is a girl who will be moving there that you will kill if you don't." I said matter-of-factly.

"Alice, that's ridiculous! I have never accidentally killed anyone. Why would one particular girl have that kind of power over me?" he scoffed. He obviously hadn't been focused on reading my thoughts or he would have seen the vision.

"La tua cantante." I said.

Emmett laughed loudly. "Yeah, that'd do it. Even you couldn't resist that shit. Heck I doubt even Carlisle could! Alice is right, looks like you need to stay away Bro."

"Just for a while." I assured him. "She'll be one of us eventually and then it won't matter."

"Wait a second. Your solution to this is to turn her!? No way Alice! I can just live with the Denali coven until the family leaves Forks. She doesn't need to die for me either way!" Edward argued.

"No silly. She won't be turned for _you. She's_ someone's mate. She'll be turned for him." I grinned like the cat who ate the canary.

"Alice, maybe you'd better tell us everything. Just exactly whose mate could this human girl be?" Carlisle asked.

I looked straight into Jasper's eyes when I spoke next. "She's The Major's mate Jazz." and immediately he knew what I meant. Of course, no one else did. Jasper never used his old title in front of the family. As much as he trusted them, it had been a matter of their safety and ours that no one from his past find out his identity. Needless to say, everyone was confused.

"I don't get it Alice. I'm only one person, how can I...?" he trailed off, clearly puzzled.

"Jazz, it's not unlike with humans and their dissociative identity disorder. Jasper Hale has Alice Cullen. But The Major has never been interested and admittedly I've never been brave enough. This girl must be made of some tough brass. I'm in awe of her already." I said, shaking my head.

And he knew I was right. He realized then what I had realized when I'd had the vision. He'd never been whole because I'd never been enough. But soon, everything would be perfect. Well, as long as we could keep Edward away from Forks that is.

And Jasper realized it at the same time I did. That was when, for the first time in a long time, The Major took over. Jasper's eyes darkened and his entire posture changed. The transformation was startling. He strolled purposefully over to Edward, grabbing him by the neck and looking him dead in the eyes.

"You will go to Denali. You will not come near the state of Washington until you are told that it is safe and I personally give you permission to return. You will not lay a hand on my mate and if you do… I will tear you into a thousand tiny pieces while leaving you head in tact so you get to watch your own body burn. Are we clear Edward?"

Edward nodded as emphatically as he could with The Major's hand around his neck. He seemed satisfied and released Edward. He remained standing but relaxed into an at ease stance, casually surveying the room.

Rosalie stood then. "Wait a minute. _You're_ The Major? As in the badass vampire of legend that everyone who has ever heard of is deathly afraid of? How the heck did I not know this? I thought we were close." She said, looking disappointed.

"You and Jasper Hale are close. If any of you had known when I first came to you, that Major Jasper Whitlock resided in this body you all would have been in serious danger. In fact, even though so much time has passed, you still might be for finding out now. I completely closed myself off from that life in order to make a clean break from it, so unfortunately I have no idea how many of my old enemies might still be alive.

"I'll have to make a call soon and see what sort of Intel I can dig up. In the meantime, Carlisle can you contact the Denalis, let them know about Edward and that we'll be bringing him there on our way to Washington? I want to see them in person and get a handle on how strong their allegiance is. They'll be our closest allies and now that the cat is out of the bag, who knows what kind of trouble will be brewing." he said.

"I'll call them straight away. I have no doubt of their loyalty but a visit won't hurt, I'd like to see them anyway. They won't be our closest allies though, while we are in Forks. We also have a precarious allegiance with the Quileute tribe and there is a treaty in place with them. They have the inherent ability to Shapeshift. The gene is presumably activated by exposure to vampires. We'll have to meet with them when we get situated. I'm not sure if they have any wolves phasing right now, but if not they probably will soon after our arrival." Carlisle said.

"Alright, thank you Carlisle. And that could be a good thing having some shapeshifters on our side. We'll have to strengthen our allegiance with them as well. Think we could do that by strengthening their numbers for them? If proximity to vampires is what activates them, think they'd be amenable to us helping them raise an army? An army of wolves has a lot of advantages over an army of newborns."

Emmett looked at The Major when he said that. "What's the army for? Is there gonna be a war?" he asked, looking a little excited.

"Not a known one. But we have to prepare for any possible outcome of all this. There used to be three people who knew I was The Major. Now there is this entire coven, plus the clan in Denali will have to know in order to be of any use in this, plus the shape shifters because they'll be close enough to find out naturally.

"And if it were just me, it wouldn't be a problem. But not only do I have Alice and the rest of the family to look out for but soon a mate to protect as well? We'll need enough numbers on our side to ensure no harm comes to anyone.

"Carlisle can you let me know when you're finished your phone calls and have some time? I'd like to sit down with you and cover the specifics of this treaty with the Quileutes. I need to familiarize myself with it so I know just how much of a help it's going to be and how much of a hindrance."

The Major said. Carlisle nodded. "Yes, I'll be back within the hour and we can discuss it then." he said, leaving the room to make his calls.

"Alright. Well, I suppose you'd like to have _your_ Jasper back until then wouldn't you lil' lady?" He asked me with a smirk.

"Yes please!" I nodded. And with that, The Major took an at ease stance and closed his eyes. He dropped his head and relaxed his shoulders as his posture changed, so did his demeanor. A few seconds later when he opened his eyes and raised them to me, it was clear my Jazzy was back at the reigns. "Eeeeeeep!" I squealed, running straight to him and jumping into his arms.

"Let's go for a hunt Sweetheart while we have the chance." He said, setting me down after a long kiss and taking my hand in his. I agreed and we ran off into the forest in search of sustenance. Thankfully The Major was still letting Jasper hunt. I had a feeling that if The Major was ever the one in control at feeding time, he'd be hunting a very different sort of prey!

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 **AN: Well, what do we think so far?**


	2. Chapter 2: Preliminary Planning, Phase 1

**AN: Alright, so thank you to Le Diablo Blanc2, trutwilightfantasy, xxxbulletxxx, a Guest, Cacau Black, kelmikmag, chanur, shae97971, Matthias L Stormcrow, Babysis64, and GracefulKlutz1983 for reviewing Chapter 1!**

 **I orginally had a long explanation here about the poly/not poly aspect of this story, but to make it simple, I'm just going to say this...**

 **In this story, Jasper Hale and Major Jasper Whitlock are two souls sharing one body. So if you want, you can think of them as two separate people with two separate girlfriends and that's totally accurate. But if you'd rather think of Jasper as being one guy who will be romantically linked to two girls, in a sense that is also accurate. So just break it down however you need to :D Thanks!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Reconnaissance Phase 1**

 **Jazz's POV**

I was still consciously aware of things whenever The Major was in charge. Just as I presume that he was aware while I was in charge. And with everything that Alice saw in her vision, I knew that for the first time ever, it was safe to let him come out to play. Part of the reason I'd kept him locked away was that I had feared he'd do things that Alice and the family would not approve of. But now that we'd learned his mate was a human girl, I had confidence he would be on his best behavior going forward.

Obviously whoever this girl was, he wouldn't be able to win her over by acting like a savage. He'd have to be a gentleman. And I knew he had it in him. Prior to Maria's interference, The Major was a good ol' southern boy. I knew he would be able to make her love him. It was everything else that worried me.

He didn't only have to make her love him. He'd have to make her understand our unusual symbiotic relationship. He'd also be bringing her into the world of the supernatural. I didn't envy him for having to bear the brunt of all of this. But I would help him however I could. The same as he'd helped me by stepping aside and letting me take charge when I met Alice.

Speaking of Alice. I was worried about what all of this would mean for her, for us. Once we were out of earshot from the rest of the family, I needed to ask her about this. "Alice Sweetheart?" I started as we ran through the trees in search of our meal. "How are you feeling about all this?"

"Oh Jazzy! It's perfect! I always knew there were things I couldn't give you. I always knew that a part of you stays locked away from me. But I always thought that I would somehow, someday have to unlock it. And I didn't know how. And I didn't think I ever could. But really it all makes so much more sense now!

"Do you remember that girl Eileen that I roomed with for a few weeks that time in university when the housing department accidentally gave away my single? She was two people, Eileen and Colleen. They each had separate boyfriends who were like polar opposites. Eileen's boyfriend Stuart was like the sweetest little bookwormish kid whereas Colleen's boyfriend Rick was this crazy biker dude who I kept thinking was gonna turn out to be a serial killer. Our situation is kinda like that." She laughed.

"Kind of, I suppose. Except I'm way cooler than that Stuart kid was, and The Major is more to be feared than any serial killer Sweetheart." I said. "Now I know that he would never hurt you himself, but he is right about the threat. We don't know what sort of dangers may arise due to this situation. Honey, I want you to promise me you'll be careful, alright?" I pleaded. Alice could be a little stubborn but I dearly hoped she'd be smart enough to keep herself outta harm's way.

"Of course Jazz!" she smiled. "I'll be just fine, I promise. Now, let's catch ourselves some dinner so we can get back and start planning." she said, running off after a nearby herd. I quickly followed, knowing we were on a strict timeline.

* * *

 **Major's POV**

By the time Jasper and Alice were finished huntin' and fuckin', Carlisle was finally off the telephone. Jasper was kind enough to give me control again and I went to join Carlisle in his study. "Alright Carlisle," I started when he looked up at me from behind his desk. I didn't bother to sit, sittin' was an unnecessary human habit that left one vulnerable and at a disadvantage.

"Fill me in on the specs of this Quileute treaty if you don't mind." I asked, standin' at ease, though I remained fully aware of my surroundings.

He nodded and pulled out a copy of the original treaty. "You may read it through in its entirety if you have the time but the main points are, we stay off of the reservation lands and we refrain from biting any humans, in exchange, they permit us to live peacefully in the area and they keep our secret. It's all pretty straightforward." He stated.

I looked over the document, skimmin' through it. "Yep. Pretty straightforward, until such time as I wish my mate to join us in immortality, then I would be in clear violation of the treaty. I want to see if they can amend that particular clause for us after we've given them some incentive to do so. I plan on offerin' to help them increase their numbers, I think that will likely make them more agreeable since from what I understand their main focus is protectin' their tribe.

"Now, from what you've said, it sounds like all we have to do to help them grow a pack is stay close by them. That should be easy since I believe in keepin' both my friends and my enemies close at hand anyway. I'm not sure yet if the Quileutes will be able to call me friend, given the violent nature of my past and the fact that I was not a member of this family at the time the treaty was formed, but I'm optimistic that they can be persuaded to continue this alliance." I paused a moment before changing the subject. "How did your call to Denali go?"

"Pretty well actually. They are pleased to have Edward coming to stay and will happily keep him distracted and occupied, lest he be tempted to return to Forks. They are also thrilled that we'll be coming to visit them. I did not disclose to them anything regarding your identity or discuss your human mate. I felt that news would be best delivered in person when we see them." he informed me and I was more than a little relieved and plenty grateful to know I could count on Carlisle's discretion.

"That's good. That would have been my recommended course of action as well. Now, I'm afraid I may need some help from you with a few other things at some point. For one, I haven't the slightest idea what to do about my mate. Previously, I have always regarded humans as dinner or potential newborns. Since she is obviously much more than that, I may need some guidance going forward. Your vast experience with humans tells me you are probably the best person to ask, though I will understand if you are too busy to assist me with this." I asked him.

Carlisle smiled. "I'd be happy to do whatever I can to help. I've always been a staunch supporter of the mating process. Unlike the fragile nature of human relationships, the fact that vampires mate for life is a blessing not to be taken for granted. Anything I can do to help bring your mate to her rightful place at your side, I will do. Though I am quite curious what all of this will mean for Jasper and Alice." He inquired.

"Well, I reckon it will be a little like a hollywood actor filming a movie. Some of their time is devoted to their onscreen love interest while their free time is devoted to their offscreen love interest, though in this case, both personas and both relationships will be very real." I mused.

"I think you're probably right about that. And as Alice already seems accepting of the arrangement, I suspect it will all work itself out over time. Just remember that all of this will be quite difficult for your human girl to understand. It may take a whole lot of time and patience for her to come to terms with things. And it sounds like she won't even be living in the area yet when we first arrive. So it's possible that it could be years before she truly joins you, depending on how long all of this may take." he reminded me.

"In other words, be patient." I said, more to myself than to Carlisle.

"Yes, that's precisely it." he agreed.

"One other thing. Since I'm not entirely sure what kind of trouble we might be gettin' ourselves into now that it's no secret who I am, there is one person who has always been an incredible asset to me over the years as well as a great friend and I would like your permission to invite him and his mate to join us in Forks when we arrive. You have met Peter and Charlotte?" I asked, knowin' he had met them a few times.

Carlisle nodded. "Yes, they are a very lovely couple and while I have absolutely no problem having them stay with us, I would ask you to make sure they do not hunt anywhere in the Olympic peninsula, as per necessity because of the Quileute treaty."

"You have my word that they won't. Peter, while being more like a brother to me than a son, is someone I sired myself. Not to mention he was under my command for many years in Maria's army. He will obey me and so will his mate. In fact it may be possible to convert them to the animal diet for a few years while we are in Forks. Now that I will have a mate to protect, it is essential to me to have them back in my life. There is no one I trust more outside of this family and I need the strongest allies I can get." I stated, hopin' he would understand.

"Very well, feel free to let them know of our travel plans and they can either meet us in Denali or in Forks when we arrive there, whichever you prefer. Our extended family in Alaska would be gracious hosts to them if you would rather arrange to reconnect with them sooner than later." he said.

"Perfect. I will call Peter as soon as we are done here and make the arrangements. Thank you Carlisle, it means a lot to me to have your support as well as the support of this family." I said, shaking his hand. I know Jasper would have prefered to hug him, but I was by no means the mushy type.

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 **AN: Love to hear your feedback! Next Chapter, the Cullens prepare to move and head to Denali :-D Please R &R!**


	3. Chapter 3: Preliminary Planning, Phase 2

**AN: Hi folks! Glad to see so many are enjoying this story! I hope it continues to hold your interest and entertain you as we get things rolling over the next few chapters. I promise, there will be a little more action once the family gets to Forks!**

 **I want to give a huge thanks to all who reviewed last chapter: Le Diablo Blanc2, acw1, tammyrolls, a guest, MsHybrid63, ashroxz499, Melody-Rose-20, Cacau Black, chanur, ckaren09 and Mathias L Stormcrow! You guys are the encouragement I need to keep writing this, which is uber helpful since it's shaping up to be on the longish side XD**

 **As always, Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. Though I do own some pretty cool Chinese fans :-P**

 **Without further ado, I give you Chapter 3!**

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 **Chapter 3: Preliminary Planning, Phase 2**

 **Alice's POV**

Everyone was getting excited about the upcoming move and the visit to Denali. It had been a while since we visited our family in Alaska and I knew it was going to be a pretty awesome visit, especially with Peter and Charlotte meeting us there. Jazzy had called them and asked them to come, but hadn't told them why, not wanting to give away the surprise yet that The Major had resurfaced. We were saving that little revelation so we could see their reactions in person.

I know they had always felt I domesticated Jasper beyond what a vampire should be. There were no hard feelings between us of course, but we weren't necessarily as close as we could have been. I hoped that the resurgence of The Major would go a long way to restoring Jasper's relationship with his brother. I had never wanted him to distance himself from them, he had only done so to avoid the temptation of drinking from humans. It was his idea to stay away, but I think they believed it was me that had kept him away from them.

The thing I was the most anxious about however was our first couple of years in Forks. I knew that a lot would change once we were finally moved in there and it was both exciting and terrifying to say the least. I wasn't worried about my relationship with Jasper, I knew that we'd be as strong as ever. I had even seen it in my visions. And I wasn't worried about how I would get on with Bella. I knew for a fact that we were going to be the best of friends.

One thing I _was_ worried about was how she was going to handle everything else, and I also knew that The Major was going to have to reign himself in quite a bit, so as not to come on too strongly, at least at first. I was also worried about her safety. Not just because of the threat that Edward's bloodlust posed, but there were many other dangers for a human coming into a world of vampires. I knew we'd have problems at virtually every turn.

Thankfully my visions would give us a heads up about a lot of things. But even _I_ couldn't see everything at all times. And my visions were largely based on decisions people made. Which meant that any unplanned threat would be able to catch us off guard and unprepared. The idea that anything could happen was unsettling. The Major had waited so long for his mate, I didn't want anything to destroy that for him now.

And there was a fine line to walk in regards to her change. We needed to give her time to not only come to terms with the existence of vampires and the reality of being destined to be with one, but also plenty of time to decide for herself that immortality was indeed what she wanted. It wouldn't do to have her enter into it reluctantly. We didn't need another Rosalie or Edward on our hands, resenting a life they felt they had been thrust into. That simply wouldn't do.

But on the flip-side of the coin, waiting _too long_ to change her could bring a variety of its own complications into play. Postponing it too much could create all sorts of risks to her. Everything from potential accidents or injuries that could force our hand to illnesses and even the possibility of the Volturi becoming involved. We'd have to be careful to give her just as much time as was necessary, without putting it off for too long.

But the fact that I had been contemplating all of this, did not necessarily mean that The Major had thought about it yet. Which meant I would inevitably have to be the one to broach this subject with him soon. Which believe me, I was not looking forward to. It wasn't that I couldn't tolerate The Major at all. We had peacefully coexisted to an extent back in the early days, before Jazzy had eventually tucked him away for safekeeping.

He still scared the shit out of me though. There were some things about Jasper's past I had come to terms with. His scars were one of them and his connection to Peter and Charlotte was another. His skill as a fighter, his leadership capabilities, his eye for strategy and his constant awareness of his surroundings. There were many things that were still part of Jasper Hale as much as they were a part of The Major. And those were the things I was okay with.

But there was one fundamental aspect of The Major that was wholly different from _my_ Jasper, and it also was the one thing that unnerved me more than was healthy. The difference could be seen by taking one look into their eyes.

You know how they say the eyes are the windows to the soul? Well if that is true, then it is absolutely no stretch to say that while my Jazzy and The Major may share a body, they certainly didn't share a soul. And it wasn't that I believed The Major was _lacking_ a soul. He had one, no question. It was just that his soul, much more so than Jazzy's, was a dark and frightening entity.

His soul was the one that had been irreparably tainted by the Southern Wars. In fact it was as if The Major had been the one to fight most of the battles and commit most of the sins back then in order to keep Jazzy's soul pure.

He was like a protector for my Jasper, a sheepdog, if you will. But just like any sheepdog, in order to do his job, he needed to become a vicious shoulder. Any innocence he had once had, was obliterated by his time fighting in the wars for Maria. Any kindness, any softness, had been scrubbed violently away. What remained of him was harsh and abrasive, cold and calculating. There was no compassion. No remorse.

He knew his manners though, of course. He knew how to get by in polite society. He was able to recognize Carlisle as the head of the family and differ to him when necessary. He recognized me as Jasper's mate and attempted to be less volatile when I was around out of respect for Jasper. He even recognized the rest of the family for their roles and significance in Jasper's life and he downplayed the violent and intimidating aspects of his nature in front of us. But one look into those eyes revealed that those things were still there, brewing turbulently beneath the surface, always threatening to bubble up and boil over.

This Bella Swan girl was going to have to be one tough cookie to handle The Major. And I didn't know enough about her yet to know what kind of a person she was. I hoped she would be strong but with good morals. The Major would need someone who could stand by him, but also stand _up to him_ if need be. And I hoped once she was turned, she would take to our vegetarian lifestyle alright. So far The Major had been letting Jasper take over again whenever he needed to hunt. But I was pretty sure that he would revert back to drinking humans if it was what his mate wanted, and I knew that doing so would likely break my Jasper, considering how awful the emotions he felt with his gift were when he fed.

I would have so many things I'd need to talk to Bella about. But the first thing to do was become her friend. I had seen some things in my visions that had given me some insight into the best way to do that, and it seemed we would need to establish a strong alliance with the Quileutes. They would either be a huge help to us with Bella or a huge stumbling block. Yet another thing I needed to talk to The Major about. I guess I couldn't procrastinate on it anymore.

* * *

"Jazzy?" I called to get his attention on our way back from a hunt.

"Yes Sweetheart?" He asked me.

"May I have a few minutes to speak with The Major if you don't mind please?" I asked gently.

He chuckled. "Sure Honey as long as you don't piss him off. I have to share head-space with him, don't forget." He said. After I assured him that I wouldn't, his posture stiffened and he seemed to stand more erect and become more imposing. When his eyes turned to me next, I knew it wasn't my Jazzy looking out of them anymore.

"Major." I nodded politely, lowering my gaze slightly out of respect before meeting his.

"Alice, what do you need?" He asked abruptly, careful not to sound rude, yet entreating me to get right to the point.

"I have a few points we need to discuss about our when we arrive in Forks. First, let me tell you what I know for sure, then you can decide what to do about it." I started. He nodded that I should continue.

"Based on our planned stay in Denali, we will be arriving in Forks two or three weeks before school starts, sometime in the middle of August. Our arrival date will be firmed up once I know what the weather will be. Your Bella will be arriving in Forks on January 17th. Which means we only have a few months to prepare for her arrival. There is a lot that needs to be done before she arrives and things will go a lot more smoothly if we work together. I also know we have full cooperation from the family, so that will be one less obstacle.

"We will however, need full cooperation from the wolves. Not just in regards to the treaty and the alliance with them but on a personal front as well. The acting chief of the tribe, though he doesn't make use of his title, is good friends with Bella's father. It will be imperative for you to get into Billy Black's good books as well as his son's. His son Jacob is the only person in Bella's age range who she knows in the town. He will become a close friend to her just as their fathers are friends and it won't bode well if we don't have them on our side. I recommend making this a high priority.

"Next point, it would be wise to let Jazzy lead while we're at school. I know you'll want to spend as much time with her as you can, but it's safer to do so back at the house, where there are no other humans. When Bella arrives, many of the human boys will be interested in her. I can assure you she won't be interested in any of them, but their attempts at garnering her attention, combined with the possessive nature of the mating pull, might lead to us being exposed if you can't keep a handle on it, so it's best to keep Jazz at the forefront when the other humans are around.

"Lastly, from what I have seen in my visions based on the decisions you and Carlisle have made so far, it looks like we can get the treaty overhauled completely in our favor if you can get most of their young people to phase. And since we have no idea what other threats might surface, having an army of wolves on our side can't hurt. Frankly, I wouldn't stop there. I recommend asking Carlisle to get in touch with some of his other long time allies and reconnect with them. Not the Volturi, obviously, since we don't want to draw their particular attention, but he has many other allies among covens all over the globe.

"We don't need them yet, but it's entirely possible that we will eventually. As you well know there is safety in numbers. In fact, if we can convince Carlisle _and_ the Quileutes to allow it, I would recommend having a few newborns available too. I know that's probably a sore point for you and Jazzy, but I think even Peter and Char would agree with me that it's a good idea. We'd have to convert them to the diet to get the wolves agreement of course, but the added strength would be valuable and I'm sure you'll agree with me that Bella's safety takes top priority.

"We could wait until after she is turned, of course, to turn others. That way they aren't a threat to her. And if we had Eleazar's help with the process, we could end up with some powerfully gifted newborns at that. Not to mention that between your gift and the fact Edward would be back by then, we could be pretty certain of turning only those who would make a good fit for our family. That way we are increasing our numbers as well as the Quileutes so that we aren't relying solely on their allegiance." I finished.

At first I thought I might have overstepped. He was silent so long that I thought he might rip my head off and I found myself wishing I were the one who could read emotions. Then slowly after what felt like ages had passed, his face lifted into a genuine smile. "Alice," he said using that pronounced drawl that my Jazzy hardly used anymore,

"If you weren't Jasper's mate I could kiss you right now. I think everything that you just said might be the smartest words to have ever come out of your mouth Pixie. I knew there had to be a good reason Jasper's kept you around all these years. Thank you for helping me with all of this and for your allegiance. I know it'll mean the world to Jasper to have us work together on this and it means the world to me to have your cooperation." he smiled sincerely.

"You're welcome Major. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to finish getting the packing done for our trip to Denali. I know you don't like most of the clothes I buy for Jasper though, so feel free to pack a separate bag with some things you find more tolerable if you want to." I smiled and headed off to my happy place… our walk in closet!

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 **AN: Okay you sexy bitches, time to type all those reviews and lemme hear your feedback! Hugs! x3**


	4. Chapter 4: Establishing Alliances,Phase1

**AN: Hi folks! First off, huge thanks to Le Diablo Blanc2, natashar, casedeputy, a Guest, MountinStar, Melody-Rose-20, xxxbulletxxx, sweetsouthernsongbird, Marland, kelmikmag, chanur, megycool2, Matthias L Stormcrow, and ForrestersWitch, for reviewing Chapter 3! And another huge than you to all who have favorited or followed this story! x3**

 **So, who's** **ready for see what happens with the Denali coven!? I know I am! Here's Chapter 4!**

 **Xoxo! -BMW**

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 **Chapter 4: Establishing Alliances phase 1**

 **Jazz's POV**

When we finally arrived in Denali, the whole family there came out to greet us. We arrived in two vehicles. Carlisle and Esme drove Emmett and Rose in Carlisle's Mercedes while Edward drove Alice and I in his Vanquish. We were paying to have the other cars driven straight to Forks for us along with the majority of our belongings since we wouldn't need them while we were here.

Eleazar and Carmen ran to greet Carlisle and Esme first, meanwhile the insatiable succubus sisters each latched on to the remaining males of course. Tanya was trying to get her claws into Edward, while Irena threw herself shamelessly at Emmett, though it only took one _very_ terrifying growl from Rose for her to abruptly back off.

Kate was a bit more subtle and hadn't managed to piss Alice off too badly, though she insisted on walking arm in arm with me and I'll admit I didn't protest too much since I was always a little leary of her reputed gift. She mostly behaved herself though, mainly asking us how the trip down was, occasionally interrupting herself to comment on my muscles or some other such fanciful nonsense.

Eventually the sisters got bored of their games, and took a seat all together on one of the sofas. Though I noticed that Tanya occupied the side closest to Edward and never took her eyes off of him for any length of time. Us Cullen kids all piled onto another large sofa while Eleazar and Carmen shared an oversized easy chair, leaving the loveseat across from them open to Carlisle and Esme who were still admiring the changes to the Denali's decor.

When they came in and joined the rest of us, Eleazar spoke without any preamble. "Well, my dear cousins, while we are always pleased to have your family come to stay with us, I must admit Carlisle's cryptic phone call has had me quite curious as to the important nature of this visit. Can you tell us what this is about now perhaps?" he asked, and his emotions were merely curious but still very friendly.

"Yes, we should get started discussing things right away. The first thing however is that we will be discussing matters that are quite confidential. Everything that is said here between our family and yours must be kept in the strictest of confidence. Can we count on your loyalty and discretion Eleazar?" Carlisle asked.

Eleazar's emotions read surprise, then a little bit of shock, then some stubbornness and determination. But overall there was also love and loyalty written there. "That you would even have to ask after all these years surprises me Carlisle. Frankly by now if your family can't count on us, who can?" he sighed. "Of course you may trust us with whatever you need!"

Carlisle looked to Edward and I for confirmation, knowing that Edward was hearing their thoughts and I was feeling their emotions. Most of their emotions all matched Eleazar's though the girls were also projecting plenty of luster as always, but that's something you just get used to around them.

Edward and I nodded our affirmative to Carlisle that Eleazar could be trusted and that the rest would follow his lead. So Carlisle stood up to shake Eleazar's hand in both of his own as a brotherly gesture. "Thank you Eleazar. It means more than you know to us to have your support and the support of your family."

"The fact of the matter is that our family is soon to be facing many potential threats, some worse than others, but right now we are standing at the precipice and we need to be prepared. We need to know who our allies are, which is why we have come. Eleazar we consider your coven to be our strongest allies and we hope that we can always count on your support because we will need it now more than ever." he began. Eleazar nodded and motioned Carlisle to continue.

"Have you ever heard of The Major? He became sort of a legend during the Southern Wars." Carlisle asked. We didn't have to guess what their answer would be, judging by the collective gasp from all of the Denalis.

"Oh Carlisle, from everything I have heard, if even half of it is true, if The Major is the threat your family is facing, you'll need a lot more help than we can give you I'm afraid." he said apologetically. I held back my smirk at that reaction, since I was used to it. But Carlisle did something I wasn't expecting. He laughed, heartily!

Looking at me, he began to speak once he was able to compose himself. "Well Son, if _that_ is the reputation you have managed to garner for yourself even this far north, we may just survive this thing after all. Like Eleazar says, if even _half_ of it is true that is!" he said with another snicker.

The rest of our family were all trying not to laugh too, while the Denali's just looked confused. Alice took it upon herself to clear up the confusion. "Jazzy, maybe it's time to let our friend out?" she said, giving me my cue.

"Sure thing Honey. I'll see you all after a while then." I said and retreated to the quiet place in my mind where I always watch him from.

 **Major's POV**

I watched as Jasper closed his eyes an' lowered his head movin' to stand at ease. When I felt him retreat I took over, immediately raisin' our body up to stand at attention. My head snapped up as I raised my gaze to look around the room, takin' in our surroundings. I always did this subconsciously even when Jasper was in control but now I was doin' it intentionally.

"Major Jasper Whitlock reportin' for duty Sir." I said turnin' in an about face to address Carlisle as a show of respect. He had become more of an advisor to me recently than a superior, but in this situation it was important I showed where my loyalties were and that I was entirely with the Cullens.

"Thank you, Major. Eleazar, I don't believe that you and your family have ever had the pleasure of officially meeting Jasper's counterpart. Major Whitlock, these, as you know, are Eleazar, Carmen, Tanya, Kate and Irina Denali, our extended family. Denali's, _this_ is the infamous southern Major who so aptly strikes fear into the hearts of many vampires with the mere mention of his name."

Readin' their emotions was gratifyin'. Shock, awe, respect, admiration, surprise and a healthy dose of fear were some of them. There was however also plenty o' disbelief still, so I did the only thing that I knew would convince 'em. I slowly removed the long sleeved, high necked, shirt I had been wearin'. The resoundin' gasps signaled the end of all their disbelief and a drastic increase in their fear.

"Relax," I said quietly, accompanied by a wave of calm I sent them. "I have no desire to hurt you. Your family are our allies. We're here to ask for your help, not to harm you." I assured them.

Once my words seemed to sink in, I put my shirt back on and slowly pulled back the calmin' effect of my gift, until they were completely without its influence. They were still somewhat nervous, but not panicked anymore which was about as good as anyone usually got around me, so I sat down on a chair backwards with a view of the room and motioned for Carlisle to resume his explanation.

"Now, as I'm sure you know, our Jasper had an extremely hard life before he joined our family and he fought for a long time in the Southern Wars. But what you didn't know, what _most_ of our family didn't know until recently, was that back in those days, Jasper was known as The Major, though some even went so far as to call him The God of War.

"At any rate, he was, as I am sure you can imagine, adversely affected by his experiences in the South, and whether you want to call it Disociative Identity Disorder or a side effect of PTSD, or anything else, Jasper developed a split personality after the wars. To my understanding, initially, both personalities were equally present and shared control until such time as Jasper met Alice, his mate.

"After that, The Major became dormant for a very long time. Recently, due to a vision Alice had, The Major has once again resurfaced. The vision was of The Major finding his _own_ mate, separate from Alice who is strictly Jasper's mate not The Major's. Now in my opinion, the existence of two different mates implies that residing within one body, there has to be two different souls.

"I suspect it is sort of like The Major was an avenging angel sent down to protect Jasper from the horrors of war. They have come to coexist surprisingly peacefully with one another, but as you have clearly seen for yourself today, they themselves are polar opposites. It is actually quite remarkable.

"The fact that The Major has resurfaced, however, brings with it an entirely new set of problems. Just as you were shocked to learn that Jasper is The Major, so too were we. Alice was the only one who knew, aside from Jasper's venom brother and _his_ mate. You will be meeting them soon, they are on their way here. They will be living with us when we get to Forks.

"Now that so many more of us know the secret, it becomes more difficult to keep. Even if none of us ever said a word of Jasper's identity to anyone, all it would take would be the presence of another mind reader like Edward or Aro before it became public knowledge among the vampire community. And as you can imagine, we have no idea how many of Jasper's enemies are still out there.

"Not to mention that we have another issue now as well. The Major's mate, whom Alice has seen now in several visions, will be a girl we meet in Forks, Washington. A _human_ girl. Which brings into play other potential concerns such as two conflicting interests; the Volturi and our treaty with the Quileutes. Now Eleazar, I know you know enough of both to see this problem clearly.

"Your family may not though, so allow me to elaborate. As you are aware, the Volturi don't tolerate humans knowing our secret unless they are to be changed. And while I'm sure you know about our treaty with the shape shifters' tribe, you may not be aware that the specific wording prohibits us from biting a human, not just from feeding.

"Which means that if the girl is changed, we could have a problem with the wolves. If she is not changed, or not changed soon enough, then the problem would be with the Volturi." Carlisle explained, I stood up then so he'd know I had somethin' to add. "Yes Major, go ahead." he said, sittin' down to give me the floor.

"First off, I should tell you all that her name is Bella. That way I won't have to hear everyone referrin' to her as 'the human girl'. That may be what she _is_ , but it is my hope that she certainly won't stay that way. The plan eventually is to change her, but that's a ways off and we're hopin' to get the treaty changed before then.

"Now, I know that this has all been a shock to you. And I understand if you need time to reevaluate your position with us. We're gonna need to know if you're all in, so would you like to have some time to think it over?" I asked 'em.

Eleazar looked around at his family, they all seemed pretty sure of their decision. "We don't need to think it over. I meant what I said when I told you that your family has our support. That will not change just because you decided to share some things about your past with us. You may indeed be two different people now, but one of those two is still the same Jasper who showed Irina what a wet willy is and played his guitar for us around many a campfire. We will always know you as _family_ and as a friend to us and I hope you feel the same." He smiled.

"Thank you Eleazar. I apologize because unlike the Jasper you are more familiar with, I'm not so good with sentiment. But please know that your good faith _does_ mean a lot to me. Carlisle, was there more you wanted to say or would you like me to fill our friends in on how they can help?" I asked, deferrin' to his lead.

"I was mostly finished Major, you're welcome to take over now. I'll still be close at hand though if anyone has any questions for me." he said, returning to his seat beside Esme.

"Alright, so the only immediate need we have from you then is your secrecy. But after we get things settled with the wolves and get the treaty adapted more leniently in our favor, I would like very much if y'all would acquiesce to some hand-to-hand combat trainin'? I would have to get you to visit us in Forks for this because I will not be able to leave my mate for any length of time and we can't exactly bring her here to do it." I stated.

Eleazar nodded. "Yes I think we can make that work. And I agree that it would be a wise idea. I myself have training from my time with the Volturi, but my family have no knowledge of fighting. Unless you count the hair pulling cat fights the sisters sometimes get into." he laughed.

"Alright, thank you. Now Eleazar, I'm not sure how well you'll take to my other idea, so let me explain my reasonin' first before I tell you about it. While I have high hopes for our buddin' alliance with the Quileutes, the fact is that anythin' can happen. But in order to assure their cooperation we plan on helpin' 'em trigger their youth to phase. Which means more wolves roamin' around who instinctively view us as the enemy, treaty or not.

"So I am hopin' that after this very generous concession on our part, they will be feelin' generous themselves and amend the treaty to allow for the turnin' of willing humans, in the case of my mate, or, like Carlisle has been known to do, turnin' someone who is dyin'. I plan to explain to them the threat that my name brings in the hopes that they'll understand our desire to increase our own numbers as well as theirs."

I waited while Eleazar digested that. "You wish to make newborns." he stated.

"Yes, though not like you might be thinkin'. I have no wish to make disposable newborns like we did in the South. I plan on usin' my gift, along with Edward's and Alice's to find specific individuals who will be a good fit for our coven in the long term. And as I said, they will either be willing or terminal and dyin' anyway. But I was also hopin' you might lend your gift when we do this, so that we also end up with folks who have the potential to be powerfully gifted." I said.

"Well of course you have our support and I'll help with recruitment when it comes to it, but might I suggest getting to that point sooner than later if at all possible? Everything you have just said essentially amounts to treason in the eyes of the Volturi and they will be our greatest threat going forward I am afraid. If anyone in this room were to shake Aro's hand now, we would have the entire guard on our doorstep in a New York minute, Major, as I'm sure you know.

"I think I am starting to understand the precautions you took before telling us all of this. Thank you for essentially giving us a choice of whether to throw in with your cause or not. But I know we are making the right one by supporting you. If anyone were going to take on the Volturi, I can't think of a better group of vampires to do it than the ones in this room. I'll be proud to serve along side of you all." he smiled. And I could tell that if a battle broke out tomorrow, Eleazar would be ready. It spoke volumes.

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 **AN: Okay, so lemme know what you thought of the visit to Denali. There'll be a bit of a time skip because Chapter 5 will be the Cullens arrival in Forks and their sit down with the Tribal Council.**

 **Until then! Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5: Establishing Alliances,Phase2

**AN: Hi all! I hope you are enjoying this story!**

 **First off, my thanks to: deadliestdistractionRN, a Guest, kouga's older woman, another Guest, marlane, Melody-Rose-20, decadenceofmysoul, acw1, casedeputy, chanur, Matthias L Stormcrow, and ForrestersWitch, for reviewing Chapter 4! Also thanks again to those who have been following and favoriting this story!**

 **Alright, so a Guest brought up a couple of points in regards to the last chapter that I'd like to address here since I can't send a personal message to a guest.**

 **First point,** of course biting isn't the only way to turn a person. But in regards to Bella, being the Major's mate, the bite is more of a territorial thing. He'd be biting her to mark her as _his_ more so than just to change her. So it isn't that he _has_ to bite her to change her, but he sure as hell _wants_ to. And yes, if they can't do it the traditional way, they'd be going the syringe route. But they'd still want permission from the Quileutes before making any newborns rather than anger them by using a loophole in the treaty.

 **Second point,** Sam was born in 1986 and began phasing when he was a senior in high school. Most seniors are 17 or 18, aren't they? They are here in western Canada. So it would have been 2003 or 2004 when he began phasing. The Cullens moved to Forks in 2003. So I find it hard to believe that two years had passed. And even if it was, the trigger is likely caused by close exposure over time. He wasn't exactly sitting in their living room. So yeah, I _could_ see it taking two years for him to phase under those circumstances.

Back when the treaty was first made, as far as we know, the Cullens were the only vampires in the area. Their close proximity _was_ what caused Ephraim, Levi and Quil II. to phase. Or at least that is what is heavily implied on the Twilight Wikia. Either way, for the purposes of my story (and others I have read, because this wasn't an original idea on my part) it doesn't have to be only human drinkers to trigger the gene.

 **Thank you to the Guest reviewer who brought up these excellent points. I hope that clarifies things and I'm sorry if the last chapter was at all confusing! :-D Feel free to ask me any other questions any of you might have folks, I love answering them!**

 **Hugs! -BMW**

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 **Chapter 5: Establishing Alliances, Phase 2**

 **Alice's POV**

We had a couple of really nice weeks with the Denali clan before it was time to hit the road again. It was decided that when the time came to go recruiting, (if and when the wolves allow it) we would be going to Seattle. Carlisle would purchase a private hospice thus giving us access to plenty of terminal patients. Eleazar would be on the payroll as a male nurse. And Edward, Jasper and I would be university students 'shadowing a physician'. That gave us all the excuses we would need to converse with the patients and use our gifts to determine who to turn.

When we said goodbye to our Denali family, we knew it wouldn't be for long since they'd be coming to Forks in the near future to join us for combat training. We parted on even better terms with them than we had arrived on. Everything was working out well so far. We couldn't have asked for our time in Alaska to go any better than it had, and for that we were all pretty grateful. We knew though that the larger challenges were still ahead of us and we were doing everything we could to be prepared to face them.

It didn't take us long at all to get settled in once we arrived at our house in Forks. We had moved enough times by then that it was second nature to us. After our first day there, Esme had completed all of the decorating. Updating the look of the house, since it had been sitting empty for so long. By the second day, our belongings had arrived and we were all unpacked, getting the entire house arranged to our liking.

By the third day, grocery shopping was finished and the entire kitchen was stocked and ready for the cooking and preparation of human food. Bella wouldn't be in Forks for a few months yet but if everything went well with the tribal council, we would hopefully have some wolves to practice cooking for very soon.

Which brings me to the fourth day after our arrival, when we finally had our first meeting with the tribal council. I couldn't see the outcome very clearly ahead of time because we would be giving them several decisions to make, but from the glimpses I was getting, it didn't look like we should have too much to worry about. We arrived in no man's land shortly after the tribe did. They were already waiting for us.

"Dr. Cullen." Chief Billy Black began. "I assume that since we have no proper chief or Alpha at the moment, that you wish me to stand as our tribe's spokesperson since I normally would, as I am acting chief on paper?" he asked.

"Yes, Mr. Black, I believe it is appropriate, considering that your grandfather Ephraim was the man who made the very treaty that governs us." Carlisle nodded.

"Very well, Dr. Cullen. Let's get right to it shall we? I see that your family has grown by two members since you last resided in our area?" he asked looking at me and Jasper wearily.

"Yes it has. My daughter Alice and my son Jasper have joined our family since then, because of their desire to live as we do. They were both already vampires at the time they found us and had been for many years." he nodded.

"Then I assume you would like us to amend the treaty to include them?" Billy asked.

Carlisle paused briefly. "Actually we were wondering if it wouldn't be of more benefit to your tribe if we drew up an entirely new treaty. Would you be open to hearing what we had in mind?"

Surprisingly, Chief Black laughed. "I assume there is a catch if you wish to renegotiate. Why don't you lay all of your cards on the table Cullen and then _we_ will tell _you_ if we want to revisit the treaty. Let's hear what it is you want from us before whatever you're offering in return, shall we?." he smirked.

"Gladly. When the treaty was made, it was exactly what both parties needed. However I believe that we will all need _different_ things going forward than we have in the past. My daughter Alice has the convenient ability to see the future. She has seen that one of our number will find his mate in a human girl. We never knew such a thing was possible before, so of course we never thought to allow for it in the original treaty.

"But mating is, for us, much similar to the process of Imprinting for your wolves, which I am sure all of your elders are quite knowledgeable about. So as you can see, we hope to be permitted to offer this human girl the chance to join my son in immortality, if she so chooses it." he said. There was some murmuring amongst the members of the Council. From what I heard, they seemed unsure whether to take us at our word and seemed _very_ hesitant to make any exceptions based on what they believed to be hearsay.

"Which of your sons do you speak of?" Billy asked.

"My son Jasper." Carlisle answered without explaining further.

"Is he not mated to the girl Alice? The way you introduced the two of them made is sound as if they were mates." he asked, looking back and forth between us.

"That part is a little complicated. Are you familiar with Dissociative Identity Disorder among humans? It is also commonly referred to as multiple personalities." Carlisle asked. This was one part of the discussion we had tried out with my visions ahead of time and I was surprised when I saw that his strategy here would work well.

"Yes, in fact one of the young girls in our tribe has it. She was abused as a child and her mind split into three personalities to handle it, though her more emotional persona stays locked away." Chief Black nodded, waiting for Carlisle to continue.

"Well, such is essentially the case with our Jasper. Jasper Hale was dominant ever since finding Alice, his mate. But Major Jasper Whitlock, generally referred to as The Major, is his _other_ persona. It is The Major whose mate is a human girl and she will be moving to Forks in a few months." Carlisle explained.

"So let me see if I understand this correctly Dr. Cullen," Chief Black began.

"Just Carlisle, please, there's no need for formality." Carlisle insisted.

"Very well then, Carlisle, you intend to expose this human girl to the world of the supernatural, essentially destroying her own world view, and then she doesn't even get her own mate, she is expected to _share him_?" Chief Black asked, eyebrow raised, his tone sounding if we were asking him to hang upside down or something.

"We have no expectations of her. She, like the rest of us, has her own free will. If the situation bothers her and she doesn't wish to pursue a relationship with The Major, no one is going to force her. The choice is ultimately hers. Though the mating bond works both ways and as such we have every reason to believe that she will be as intent on a future with The Major as he will be with her.

"Unfortunately, unlike your wolves who have the choice of whether to keep phasing or not, my son does not have a choice of whether to remain a vampire. So in order for the girl to have a relationship with her mate, it will be with him as a vampire and her choosing either immortality or humanity. And as I'm sure you can imagine, it would much safer for her to become one of us than to remain the sole human in a family of vampires, though if she chooses to do so we will go to every possible length to protect her always." Carlisle said.

Billy and the others took a few moments to process this. "Is that the only amendment you wish to make then? You want the ability to offer the girl immortality?" He asked.

"That is the change that is the most important to us, yes. However my son's identity as The Major is becoming more widely known. Now that his previously dormant personality is in charge. And sadly the coven that changed him was a very militant one, always at war. As you can imagine, many of the people who once knew him by the name of The Major were enemies not friends. As such we would also like to be able to add a few new members to our family, in order to better protect ourselves as well as to help your tribe protect the people of the Olympic Peninsula. And we would also like to help you increase your own protection.

"I know you have no boys phasing at the moment and we wish to help you rectify your situation. Having a good number of wolves to protect not only the tribe but the people of Forks and the greater area is mutually beneficial. Just as an increase in our numbers would also benefit you as our allies. Seeing as our proximity causes Quileute boys of the right age to phase, we'd be willing to help you make as many wolves as you want to have, as many as is possible.

"I know that in the past, your packs have always numbered three. I believe that three is the minimum number of wolves that will shift when any vampires enter into the area. However if my theory is correct; if it is as I have always suspected, that the presence of vampires causes the transformation... Then it is entirely possible for a pack to contain many more wolves than three. Much as an ordinary wolf pack in the wild likely would." he explained, then gave them time to discuss it amongst themselves.

The tribal elders talked for quite some time, speaking so low and at such a distance that we could not hear them. Finally after much deliberation, Billy Black spoke again. "It seems that your presence here brings with it a great threat. Your enemies would also be enemies of our people because from the sounds of things they are violent, blood thirsty human drinkers. Tell me why we should even allow the existing treaty to stand, under such circumstances. Clearly it is of more benefit to us to send you away so that your enemies don't have a chance to darken our doorstep to begin with." he said, challenging Carlisle to come up with a refutable argument. Thankfully he had one.

"Well for starters, I believe your people to be honorable. Therefore I do not think you would go against the wishes of your ancestors, who wanted peace with us, just as much when they wrote that treaty, as we wanted peace with them. But even if I am wrong, and the past is not enough to convince you, I think it is only fair to tell you that if we did have to leave the area, it is quite likely the girl would come with us." he said, waiting silently for Billy's response.

"What of it, Carlisle? If the girl leaves the area with you, then she is no longer our concern. We are not able to protect the entire world's population. Only those who live in this area are under our protection." he said, seeming to believe the argument closed.

"Well then, it is a shame for all concerned that you wish us to leave. Considering how happy Charlie Swan seemed in Alice's visions once he learns that his daughter plans on moving in with him, I can only imagine how devastated he will be if she then chooses to leave Forks permanently at the behest of his best friend, Billy. It's a pity too. I was dearly hoping that we would be able to count on the tribe's assistance in protecting Isabella, but I guess we'll just have to attempt to make other allies wherever we settle next and hope that it is enough." he said, turning to leave just as swiftly as we had arrived. The rest of us followed suit, but not before I saw Billy's eyes widen at the realization of what Carlisle was truly saying.

"Wait Carlisle! It seems we have more to discuss after all." Billy said frantically beckoning us back.

* * *

After another hour of discussion with the tribe, we were signing off on the amended treaty. Things has taken a turn overwhelmingly in our favor after Carlisle had played his ace in the hole. It seems that the tribe's familial relationship with the Forks police chief and his daughter was to be our saving grace. Instead of 'bite' the new treaty read that we may not 'feed on or forcibly change' a human, stating that they could be turned of their own free will, or as an act of mercy when the alternative was an unpleasant or untimely death.

It also stated that the number of vampires in our coven could not exceed the number of excess Shapeshifters in the tribe, with the exception of our signing members who were being given a 'free pass'. This meant that for each wolf they gained beyond their initial three, we could add a new vampire to our family, beginning with Bella. This assured that we had to help them, in order to help ourselves. It was good insurance for both sides of the agreement. And any additional members of our family would be bound by the treaty regardless of whether they signed it or not.

Another amendment was that our human drinking allies were allowed to be in the area for as long as we wanted, provided they only fed in major cities while in the State of Washington. They only agreed to this because we explained that if we ever came under attack, we would need all the help we can get, and Carlisle assured them he has trustworthy friends all over the world who would come to our aid if asked and would respect the tribe as well as their rules. This was a bit of a stretch since we technically still needed to shore up those alliances, but Carlisle is an optimist and having met a lot of his friends over the years, I'd say we had pretty good reason to be positive about that.

And the last change to the treaty was that instead of banning us from their land completely, the pack leader and/or chief could give us permission to be on their land when they had need of us, be it for strategical reasons, medical reasons if they had need of Carlisle's expertise as a supernatural doctor, social reasons (since Bella has friends among the tribe), or to spend time with the boys in order to trigger their phasing.

And as a bonus that went beyond the treaty, The Major offered to provide combat training for any of the future wolves who wanted it, as soon as they began phasing. He was asked by the tribe to provide a demonstration of his skill and gladly went to the middle of the clearing to face off against Edward, who they were informed could read minds. It was exactly thirty six seconds from the commencement of the fight before Edward was flat on his ass.

One of the elders suggested Edward was going easy on him, so The Major told Edward that if he caught him, he'd rip Edward's arms off and they began again.

With the added motivation of losing his arms, Edward held out for two minutes and fourteen seconds against The Major, who then, in a show of good faith, removed Edward's arms.

The elders were obviously impressed by this display of The Major's skill, but they were even more impressed to see he was a man of his word, and even further impressed with the close camaraderie between brothers that they witnessed after the fight when Jasper helped Edward fuse his arms back on. Everyone clearly saw the shift in personalities then, as Jazzy took over from The Major and ended the altercation with a heartfelt hug. If they hadn't believed us before, they surely did after witnessing the difference for themselves.

When we ended our sit down with the tribe, both groups were excited about the prospect of things to come, though it was still a cautious optimism. We would need to provide fruit on the tree for them to be fully comfortable with our alliance, and we wouldn't be totally at ease ourselves until our numbers were what we wanted them to be and Bella was safe under our protection. The Major was going to be on the edge of his seat waiting for her arrival. And I was anxious to meet my new best friend!

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 **AN: Okay, so I hope everyone is getting excited to meet Bella! I know I sure am. She won't be in the next couple of chapters, sorry to tell you. First we have to spend some time with the tribe and try to make some wolves, and also maybe see how Jasper handles Forks High School! Bear with me, I promise it will be worth the wait! ;-D**


	6. Chapter 6: Recruiting Wolves, Phase 1

**AN: Hey guys and gals! Huge thanks to Le Diablo Blanc2, sweetsouthernsongbird, casedeputy, acw1, KingCrab-5D's-RivalGIII, MountinStar, Melody-Rose-20, nikolasowa, kouga's older woman, xxxbulletxxx, chanur, Matthias L Stormcrow, and The Original Miss Darling, for reviewing Chapter 5! And thank you to all who have favorited and followed this story! I love that so many people are enjoying this! And I'm definitely enjoying writing it :-D**

 **Just to clear up any confusion there may have been last chapter, Edward came back for the meeting with the tribe, but no, he isn't staying. He'll go back to Alaska as planned.**

 **Here comes Chapter 6 for ya!**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Recruiting Potential Wolves, Phase 1**

 **Jazzy's POV**

It wasn't long before we had our first formal invitation from the Quileute council to set foot on their land. The invitation was extended to four vampires of our choosing. It seems they were anxious to get at least their initial three wolves phasing, now that there were vampires back in the area (even though we were friendly toward them, their natural instincts still had us pegged as the enemy).

It was decided that Alice and I would go, for starters. She planned to use her gift to see which boys would be most likely to phase. I was to remain in control initially, so that the boys wouldn't be intimidated by The Major. First we were mostly hoping to get a feel for which boys would be our best bet and of course we would let them know what they were getting themselves into.

For the other two that would be joining us, I selected Peter and Charlotte who had finally arrived back from their side mission. They had met us in Denali briefly, but The Major had then assigned them to head as far south as they could without getting themselves into trouble, and bring us back an earful of Southern gossip. We wanted to know if anyone down south had started talking about us yet, and try to find out which of our old enemies were still alive. We already knew that Maria was, Peter had kept tabs on her for me over the years, since she was potentially our biggest threat, but up until that point we hadn't known much more than that.

I knew that for our first visit to the wolves The Major would want someone reliable and there wasn't anyone he trusted more than Pete and Char. So, after asking Peter to please keep his sarcastic humor to a minimum and reminding him that we wanted the Quileutes to _stay as our allies_ , not become our enemies, we headed across the treaty line with five of the Quileute boys as our escort.

Once we arrived at a small blue house, we were informed that it was to be used for our purposes now and would eventually house the pack. Once inside, we began by discussing things with the five boys who had been sent to meet us. "So," I asked them, "I assume your elders have explained things to you?"

One of the younger boys scoffed. I felt disbelief coming off of him in spades. "Yeah, they explained to us that we're supposed to start believing in the boogie man because apparently your family are supposed to be a bunch of bloodsucking leeches who are going to help us magically turn into a pack of giant wolves. No disrespect meant to our elders here, but the part they didn't explain is what they've been smoking." he snickered.

"What's your name boy?" I asked him, masking my impatience.

"Jacob Black." he said. I shook my head in disbelief at that unfortunate knowledge.

"Black huh?" I smirked. Well then, it seems we sure as shit have our work cut out for us don't we, because if _you_ phase then like it or not, your last name makes you the Alpha puppy. Not to mention the _chief of the whole damn tribe_ , Jacob. So... if I can prove to you that everything your elders have told you is true, will you promise to at least _try_ to take this somewhat seriously please?" I asked in slight exasperation.

"Well, since there's no way that you can _actually_ be a vampire then yes, I promise. If you somehow magically turn into a creature of the night, then I promise to do my best to become a giant doggy and be king of all the other giant doggies, okay? How's that?" he grinned smugly.

"Care to shake on it boy?" I extended my hand, feeling pretty smug myself. He took my hand and shook it.

"All right. So you want me to prove I'm a vampire. How about I let you choose the method. Would you like to see me use my super strength, my super speed, my super senses, or would you like to see me sparkle in the sunlight? Or perhaps you'd like to come into the forest and watch me hunt?" I offered.

Jacob thought for a few moments and then grinned again. "How about all of the above. As long as it isn't _us_ you plan on hunting." he laughed.

"Alright, first how about you go stand on the other side of the field and speak quietly. I'll start by using my super hearing to know what you're saying, and then I'll use my super speed to come out there and tell you, okay?" I suggested.

"Sure, sure. But this is stupid." he said and walked outside.

"The rest of you boys are welcome to watch us through the window." I told them and waited until Jacob got to the other side of the field, then I listened carefully in case he decided to whisper.

"Okay, Jasper, this is stupid." he said quietly. Then after a moment he shook his head. "No wait, that's easy to guess. I should say something random. Okay... pickles." he laughed.

I crossed the field and was then standing behind him in an instant. "You said 'Okay, Jasper, this is stupid. No wait, that's easy to guess. I should say something random. Okay... pickles.' and then you laughed. And by the way, you laugh like a donkey." I smirked, totally amused by how ridiculously high he jumped upon hearing me speak from behind him. He spun around quickly and the look on his face was just priceless.

I could hear the four other boys in the house laughing as they watched our interaction. "Oh _snap_! Shit just got _real_!" I heard one of the boys say and couldn't help but chuckle.

"What's so funny!?" Jacob thundered.

"Nothing, just laughing at your friend's reaction in the house." I said, nodding in that general direction.

"You tricked me!" he roared. "You knew you were a vampire and you tricked me! If I'd known _any_ of this was real, I'd have run for the hills! You think I actually want to lead a pack of giant doggies!? How dare you trick me?" he yelled, and then… he started shaking. _Oh shit, here we go!_

It took about three more seconds before he ripped through his clothes as he shifted into the largest fucking wolf I had ever seen. I decided at that moment, I'd better let The Major take over.

 **Major's POV**

 _Yeah, thanks Jazz. Leave the giant wolf to_ me _why don'tcha._ No matter, before Jacob ever had a chance to lunge at me, I had phased too. Though not into a giant wolf albeit, but into a lethal fuckin' death machine nonetheless. I immediately hit him with a cripplin' wave of Calm, accompanied by a heapin' helpin' o' Submission, which had the wolf whimperin' at my feet like the puppy he was. "Now, take a minute to collect yerself, phase back, an' then we'll head inside to finish our discussion." I ordered. He might be _their_ Alpha but he sure as hell wasn't _mine._

I watched as he did exactly as I'd told him and phased back. _Well, at least the boy knows how to follow orders._ Except he wasn't wearin' clothes anymore cuz they had been shredded. Thankfully Alice's quick thinkin' had one of the boys runnin' out of the house with a pair of shorts for him to put on. He did so quickly and once he was dressed I took a good look at him. He'd gain several inches in height and even his musculature had filled out plenty. The boy we had been dealin' with earlier was gone, and in his place stood a young man.

"Very impressive Jacob. Race ya!" I said and ran back to the house ahead of him. He was definitely faster than human speed now, but I was still faster than him. Though I wasn't sure if that would be true of his wolf form.

"Alright boys. So now, you obviously know that we ain't fuckin' around. Jacob might not have known _quite_ what he was gettin' himself into here, but he willingly agreed to try it. The rest o' you are in a slightly more fortunate position because you have now seen a little of what this entails with yer own two eyes. So if any o' you boys ain't interested in joinin' Jacob's pack, now would be the time to leave." thankfully, they all stayed put. I took a moment to pull out my phone and call Billy Black.

It rang three times before he answered. " _Black residence."_

"Mr. Black? This is Major Jasper Whitlock. I wanted to let you know that your son is the new Alpha, Sir, he just phased."

" _Thank you Major. That is the best news I've had in a long time! Are you at the Pack property now?"_

"If by that you mean the little blue house in the woods, then yes we are. You're welcome to join us if you want to." I said. It'd be a little dangerous bringin' a human in but he was Jacob's father and the actin' chief, at least until they could get Jacob sworn in, so he had a right to be here. There were enough of us vampires that we could keep the human safe if any of the boys ended up phasin' in the house. Though I was hopin' to get them all outside as soon as they were showin' any signs.

" _Alright, I'll be along after a bit then. Do you think you can get all five of those boys to phase Major?"_ he asked. I shot a look at Alice expectin' her to use her power. She looked like she tried but then just shrugged.

"I can't say for certain, but considerin' how quick yer son phased, I'm pretty optimistic." I said.

" _Very well then, I'll see you all there shortly."_ he said and disconnected.

"Alice?" I asked. "Can't you see by now which boys'll phase? They've all decided to try haven't they?"

"Yes Major, but I can't see _anything_ now. I haven't seen anything since Jacob phased! I'm wondering if the wolves cause some sort of blind spot in my power? I'm hoping so because if it's not connected to that, then I don't know any other reason for it and that worries me." she said, sounding concerned.

"Alright, let's do a test o' that theory then. Alice, why don't you run back home for a bit and let us know if bein' away from Jake fixes it for ya, okay? I'll send Charlotte with you, Pete and I'll be fine here with the boys. If that don't fix it, you can just head back here, but if that _is_ the problem, then I'm gonna need you to be away from the wolves as much as possible. I can't have you goin' blind with Bella all the way in Phoenix still. It's too dangerous." I said. She nodded and took off right away with Charlotte, obviously anxious herself to find out the problem with her power.

"Did you just say something about a _Bella_ in _Phoenix_? Surely you don't mean Bella Swan!? I know she's pale, but still! I think I'd know if my childhood friend was a vampire… wouldn't I? " Jake asked, obviously confused.

"Right, I temporarily forgot you knew her. She isn't a vampire at the moment. But she's movin' here in a few months and she's definitely gonna have the option to become one. Alice had a vision a while back. Turns out Bella Swan is my mate." I said, attemptin' to explain.

"Your _mate_? Care to explain that? Have you ever even met Bella?" he asked, it seemed I'd only succeeded in confusin' him further.

"Okay look. Vampires have one person who they're destined for. Sort of like the human idea with soulmates. But seein' as how I am technically _two_ vampires livin' in _one_ body, we both have separate mates. Jasper Hale is mated with Alice Cullen, whereas _my_ mate is Bella. Alice sees the future and she told us this weeks ago. It's the reason we're makin' more wolves and vampires. To protect her. My name comes with a bit of infamy." I said and Peter scoffed.

"That's the understatement of the fuckin' century! Let's just say there ain't a lot of vamps especially in the south who don't cringe when they hear The Major's name. This Bella girl is gonna be walkin' into a war zone takin' him on. It's why we need all o' you dogs in the first place." he said. I thought his statement might actually backfire by pointing out the danger I bring to Bella. But I guess even the cocky wolf boy didn't feel qualified to argue with fate.

"So you mean, that by helping you vamps and buying into all this wolfy business, we're actually helping to protect Bella? Why the hell didn't you say _that_ in the first place!? Count me in!" he exclaimed. Seeing Jacob's enthusiasm the rest of the boys nodded.

"Alright then let's get this show on the road shall we? Pete let's take the boys out back two at a time and try to get them riled up. It really seemed to me like Jacob gettin' angry was what pushed him enough to transform." I said, "Jake who'd ya want fer yer second and third?" I asked, lookin' the boys over.

He thought seriously for a moment. "Well... the last pack consisted of a Black, a Uley and an Ateara right? So I suppose we should start with Sam and Quil then. I think that's what the elders would say if they were here." Jacob said, scratchin' his head, obviously worried about playin' favorites.

"You'd be right Jake." Billy said from behind us, wheelin' in through the front door at that exact moment. Jake looked pleased to have his father's approval.

"Perfect timin' Billy. Pete and I were just goin' to take the boys out back and start workin' with them. We think it helps to get them angry because Jake was kinda freakin' out when he started to change. I mighta sorta tricked him into becomin' Alpha, since I knew how much it meant to the tribe. 'Course, as soon as he found out I'm doin' all this for Bella, any regrets he mighta had flew right out the window. Think I might possibly have a bit o' competition on my hands with yer boy Billy?" I smirked, teasin' Jake just fer the hell of it.

"I wish you did Major. No offense but I'd much rather see Bella Swan with my son than with you, or any vampire for that matter. Not only because it would warm my heart to have her in my family, but because she'd be so much safer out of harm's way. I'd be _very_ upset if anything happened to that girl." he said quietly.

"So would I, Billy. So would I."

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 **AN: Well, I hope you're all thrilled about Jake becoming Alpha. Sorry to those who may have wanted Sam as Alpha. I thought with Bella being The Major's mate and The Major running the show, it made more sense for her best friend to step up and lead the Pack.**

 **Next Chapter will be more of the scene at LaPush and maybe we'll throw in a party for the wolves too! As always, I love to hear your feedback! x3**


	7. Chapter 7: Recruiting Wolves, Phase 2

**AN: Okay thanks to MountinStar, kouga's older woman, Melody-Rose-20, chanur, MissLuciusNightWings, Matthias L Stormcrow, and ForrestersWitch, for reviewing last chapter! And thanks to everyone who has followed and/or favorited this story! You all rock my socks off so much that I'm literally not wearing any anymore!**

 **This chapter is a little shorter than they have been, but that's because making an army of wolves isn't really an original idea, so I don't want to focus too much on this aspect. Plus I know you're all dying to meet Bella in a couple of chapters so let's get to it!**

 **Mwah! ;-***

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 **Chapter 7: Recruiting Potential Wolves, Phase 2**

 **Alice's POV**

We had been at the little blue house for a total of six hours and nineteen minutes when the second wolf phased.

Charlotte and I left briefly during that time to test my power and had come back to report that it was affected by the wolves. But when I looked for Bella, I could still see her in Phoenix, so The Major was content to let me stay and help with getting the boys to phase.

The second boy to transform, was Sam Uley. He was one of the older boys and seemed a bit more level headed than Jacob, so hopefully they would balance each other out.

The other boys were teasing him and saying his girlfriend would like his new muscular build. "Who is she?" I asked politely.

"Her name is Leah Clearwater. I'm actually curious about how she'll take this. She knows the legends are true now, of course. The elders told all of the boys to prepare them in case they start phasing, and her brother Seth told her because he was so excited he couldn't keep his mouth shut.

"But it's one thing to know the wolves exist. It's entirely different to learn that your boyfriend is something supernatural." he said.

"Well shit, now I'm curious myself since I'm gonna have to make a similar speech to Bella in a few months." the Major smiled.

"Why don't you call her over here Sam? There's safety in numbers and she'll be less likely to freak out with all of us here. Plus Jasper can use his gift on her if she gets really upset, so you'll have a safety net." _Plus Charlotte and I are getting bored being the only girls, surrounded by this much testosterone!_ I thought, laughing internally.

"Yeah okay, I will. Thanks." he said, pulling out his phone. While he made the call to Leah, The Major went back to work on getting Quil to phase.

* * *

It was eighty six minutes later when Leah arrived. Sam sat down with her and honestly, she seemed to take it pretty well. She and I and Charlotte sat off to the side with Billy while the boys did their thing and she asked me questions about being a vampire.

Twenty three minutes later and Quil still hadn't phased but when Leah moved her chair closer to mine to get out of the way as the boys moved around the yard fighting, her arm brushed mine and I realized she was burning up. "Shit! Leah, did you know girls can phase!? I had no idea!" I exclaimed testing her temperature with my hand on her forehead.

"What do you mean?" she asked, looking anxious.

The boys had stopped what they were doing when they heard my comment. "Sam!" I called as they came rushing over.

"Seriously!?" he exclaimed, looking both worried and excited as he looked Leah over. "Wow, well it looks like you won't have to worry about now about all the time I'd have been spending away from you, Babe. Seems like instead you'll be right there with me." he smiled, hoping she was okay with this new turn of events.

"I will!?" she yelped, backing away from everyone in shock. And just then, she burst into wolf form surprising everyone.

"Huh. Well I never would've thought.." The Major trailed off. "That is to say, there ain't nothin' in the legends about this is there?" he asked Billy.

"No, there isn't. But I reckon Harry will be well pleased." he smiled, obviously thrilled that his friend's daughter would be the Third in his son's pack.

"Well Quil," The Major said. "I know you were hoping for that spot but you actually have an even more important role now. Three is the automatic number to phase when there are vampires around. So since we aren't really sure if more exposure to vampires can increase the numbers beyond that, if we can just get you to phase, then we'll be making history here today. Still up to trying?" he asked.

"Yeah, let's do this!" he said looking more excited.

"Alright, well, I know that self preservation is generally one of the strongest instincts there is. So why don't we sit you down in the middle of the field while Jake, Sam and Leah practice taking on Peter and I and we'll all just fight around you. It'll be plenty dangerous and we won't be lookin' out for ya, so you'll have to take care o' yerself alright?"

"Sure thing." he said, though I didn't have to have Jasper's gift to know that he was scared shitless. But he did his best to hide the fact and took his place in the middle of the field. The other two boys who had yet to phase came to join us on the sidelines so that the rest could focus on Quil for now.

"Hey vamp ladies." the boy named Paul said, taking a seat beside us.

"Hey Paul, Jared." I smiled.

"You boys must have some pretty strong self control to not be phasin' out there with two vampires provokin' ya." Charlotte smiled warmly. "It'll serve ya well when you finally do join the pack." she said.

"Yeah but we don't even know if we'll have a chance to make the pack. There might only ever be three." Jared said, looking disheartened.

"Well, what can I say?" she said and then broke into a smile as the air rippled with the sounds of Quil phasing. "I'm an eternal optimist." she laughed.

And then everyone broke out into a standing ovation while Billy went into the house to phone both Harry and Old Quil to tell them that both Leah and Quil had made the pack. Then I watched as The Major disappeared and my very own Jazzy came back to me. He spoke to Peter for a couple of minutes and then came over to see me.

After a long drawn out kiss, he spoke softly to me. "Honey, you mind if Peter and I take the wolves out for a hunt and you and Charlotte take over with the humans for a bit? I've got Pete convinced to hunt animals with us and if I wait too long he might chicken out." Jazzy laughed.

"That's fine, Baby. Paul and Jared are taking a break right now but we'll get to work in a bit with them." I said. Charlotte said goodbye to Peter and I said goodbye to Jazzy and they took off with the wolves who had stayed in their wolf form for now.

I would have to go shopping later after we left and buy appropriate clothing for the wolves that we could leave all over the forest for them to use when they phased. And plenty of food for their cupboards too. Jacob had been eating like a horse since he first phased and the others wouldn't be far behind with their appetites.

* * *

After the boys had rested, Charlotte and I got to work with them. It took a long time but Jared phased at 20:27 and Paul finally transformed at 21:13. (Yes, The Major had us all synchronized and on military time.)

Our boys came back with the wolves shortly after Paul had phased. Then they got a bonfire going. Billy was so pleased we kept our word and they now had six wolves, that he got permission for our whole family to come out to the little blue house on the Rez and meet all the new wolves.

The Major showed up long enough to report in to Carlisle when the family arrived but then he brought Jazzy back for the party. Esme brought tons of food they had picked up on their way over and the wolves all dug in along with the tribal elders who had come along as well to celebrate the pack.

"Well Carlisle, I must say I am impressed with the progress your boy has made after just one day of effort. So far every boy we've sent him has joined the pack and even Leah, which none of us knew would be possible. You've got a good man in command Carlisle. And he definitely respects you. I don't feel nearly as apprehensive about the idea of Bella being The Major's mate as I did when I first learned of it.

"He may have a past that could give a grown man nightmares, but he is a strong warrior, courageous and loyal. Though I am still not pleased with the prospect of Bella becoming a vampire, at least I no longer have reason to fear for her safety.

"From what I have seen today, Major Whitlock will be quite capable of protecting her. And after seeing the way he so easily hands the reins over to his more peaceful counterpart as needed, I even have confidence that he would quite willingly protect her from himself." I was pleased to overhear Billy telling Carlisle.

"Thank you Billy. It really means a lot to me that you would say that, and I know your confidence in him would mean the world to Jasper as well. And your wolves are doing marvelously also. They seem to be taking to their new identity as Shapeshifters quite well so far." Carlisle complimented.

"Now that we have three wolves over and above our minimum, will you be making three new vampires?" Billy asked.

"Not right away. The Major doesn't want any newborns around with Bella coming here as a human. We'll only be able to start looking for potential candidates once she is a newborn herself. But if she chooses not to become one of us, then we would simply move the rest of our family to Alaska and make our newborns there, only returning once they have control of their thirst." Carlisle explained.

"Well then, for your family's sake, I almost hope that she does choose immortality. Almost." Billy said with a laugh.

It was heartwarming to hear their friendly banter, considering how unfriendly Billy had seemed in the beginning. I'm so glad for everyone involved that we were able to strengthen our alliance with the tribe. It would eventually become more important than we could ever anticipate.

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 **AN: Alright, so next we'll begin to acclimate ourselves with Forks High. And as always, I love, love, looove to hear your feedback!**


	8. Chapter 8: Reconnaissance, FH, Phase 1

**AN: Thank you to sweetsouthernsongbird, decadenceofmysoul, kouga's older woman, Stargazer1364, Melody-Rose-20, chanur, ckaren09, Matthias L Stormcrow, ForrestersWitch, CentauRita, and The Original Miss Darling, for reviewing Chapter 7!**

 **I don't own Twilight, but I do own plenty of mismatched socks :-P**

 **\- Hugs! BMW**

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 **Chapter 8: Reconnaissance, Forks High, Phase 1**

 **Jazzy's POV**

Our first day at Forks was pretty typical for a first day at a new school. We were all old hands at it by now. All except Peter and Char who decided to try it out, just to see what it was like.

"So why do we have to spend an hour in the Cantina? We don't eat, so really what's the point?" Peter asked me as we filled our lunch trays with unappetizing human food.

"They call it a cafeteria Pete. They don't sell alcohol. And the point is that it makes us seem more human." I answered, even though I'd never really understood the concept either.

"Actually, all due respect, it really doesn't, J. Y'all sit around pickin' at human food, never eatin' it, somebody's bound to catch on. But if we went off site for lunch, and didn't eat, everyone would just think we ate somewhere else." he suggested. Honestly, he had a good point.

"Alright, well how about we sit here today and starting tomorrow we go off site at lunchtime. If anyone asks we'll say we go home for lunch. It's not that unrealistic, Esme works from home after all, so it's perfectly believable. And then when Bella starts, we can actually take her home for lunch. That's probably a better idea anyway." I nodded, knowing it would make The Major feel a lot better not to have a cafeteria full of teenage boys ogling his mate.

Hell, it'd make us _all_ feel a lot better not to have a bunch of horny children staring at our mates over the lunch hour. Maybe bringing Pete and Char to school wasn't as bad an idea as I had first thought it might be. Of course they had to wear color contacts but that was no problem.

"So Jazz," Emmett asked me. "Do we have a plan for when Bella starts school?"

"Sort of. Alice and I have talked and we needed a go around for the fact that all the Cullen kids are paired off. It's sort of unapproachable that we're all in couples. So Alice is going to befriend her first which will give her a reason to hang out with us. And once she has Bella's ear, she can explain to her about The Major and I.

"We won't tell any of the other humans about The Major though. It's too conspicuous. To the rest of the students, once Bella and The Major start dating, it'll just seem like a Poly relationship. Which is fine since they'll be used to us being weird by then anyway." I laughed.

Emmett chuckled so loud it drew attention from the other tables around us. "Yeah, no kidding! They're already calling Dad 'The Love Doctor'! I even heard a girl in one of our morning classes telling Rosie that someone should make a reality show about us!"

"You know, if we didn't have such an important secret to protect, I'd love to be on a reality show." Rose said, striking a pose, "I'm ready for my close up!" she said, tossing her hair back and making kissy faces while Emmett pretended to be filming her.

It was pretty funny to see them goofing around like that since Rose is often so serious. Even Pete and Char were laughing at their antics. It sure made lunch pass by quickly.

The rest of the day was more of the same. Boring class after boring class and with it being the first day we also didn't really learn anything. It was mostly an overview of what to expect. Eventually the final bell rang and we headed home to get working on our more important objectives. After a quick hunt and a quick post hunt romp with Alice, I let The Major take over.

* * *

 **Major's POV**

As time passed, Peter and I continued trainin' the wolves while Charlotte an' Alice worked with the vampires gettin' the rest o' the family up to standard. I'd trained Alice in the early days of her relationship with Jazz because you just never know when you'll need to be prepared to fight.

The tribe continued to bring more of their youth over to spend time with us, and we were up to eleven wolves. It was almost Thanksgivin' and things were progressin' quite well. Carlisle had reduced himself to a three day work week (which I reckon is easy to arrange when you're skills are worth ten times the salary they pay you as a doctor). He and Esme were travelin' all over the globe on their long weekends, meetin' with old friends an' findin' out who our allies would be.

They weren't revealin' my identity though, which I was extremely grateful for. They did mention the existence of the Shapeshifters, but not how many there were or where to find 'em. All they really said to most of 'em was that Alice's visions had shown us trouble was brewin' down the line an' that we'd need friends in our corner soon.

They all said they'd be happy to help and would gladly come whenever we needed 'em to. A few didn't want to wait and insisted on comin' to visit us right away. Garrett was one of the first to arrive. I was pleased to have another experienced soldier around who could help us train the others in hand to hand combat.

And when the Denalis came down to begin trainin', we were all pleasantly surprised to learn Kate and Garrett were mates. Esme had us all assist with buildin' accommodations to house the vampires who planned on stayin' a while.

We ended up buildin' four additional houses on the Cullen property. One for the Denalis and three to be used on a first come, first serve basis.

The pack house on the Rez also had to be expanded to accommodate all the new wolves. So Esme and Alice assisted 'em in turnin' the lil' blue house into more of a high end bunkhouse. It was quite a sight to behold.

By Christmas we had sixteen wolves 'tween the ages of fourteen and twenty one and there were eighteen vampires stayin' in the area, including the Cullens, the Denalis and the Irish coven, who had arrived in time for the holidays. I was becomin' more assured of my mate's safety with every passin' day. Though that didn't mean I would be lettin' my guard down any time soon.

As her arrival in Forks drew closer, I began to anticipate our first meetin' with an anxious excitement. The way I used to anticipate some of my impendin' victories in battle. It was a quiet anxiousness and a cautious excitement. I knew nothin' was guaranteed until I was holdin' her in my arms. And _that_ was the moment I was most lookin' forward to.

There was nothin' else that occupied my mind. I was always either awaitin' her arrival or plannin' fer her safety. There wasn't time for anything else. Jasper was in charge of making sure we were fed, and I allowed him to take over for that purpose and of course I made sure he had plenty of time to spend with Alice. But other than that, I was always in charge.

Even at school where I let Jazz have the forefront I was always watching. Always in the background paying attention to every little detail and every single student. Bella was going to be attending this school too and I wanted to have a good idea ahead of time of who was friend or foe.

We didn't engage much with the students because it was dangerous to get close to humans in general, but between their conversations which were easily overhead with our vampire ears, and their correspondin' emotions, I was able to have a pretty good idea of who was who and how I felt about them.

Bella wouldn't know anyone at school at first because her only friends in the area went to school on the Rez. So it would be up to us to scout things out for her and steer her towards people who wouldn't cause her any stress or harm. And I was determined not to let her down.

As the days and weeks went by, everyone else became nearly as excited as I was. La Push was buzzin' with excitement. The folks who new her were pleased she was comin' back and the wolves who didn't know her had garnered enough from Jake's thoughts to want to meet her.

The Cullen property was in a state of chaos. Alice had bought Bella an entire wardrobe and Esme decorated a room for her. Even though she probably wouldn't be stayin' here for a long time and could have just used my room, she wanted to do it anyway so I let her go ahead with it.

The girls were having the pack over to eat more often in order to practice cooking for Bella and the wolves were thrilled to be the guinea pigs. Alice had been combing her visions trying to find out her favorite foods and favorite color and anything else she deemed a best friend should know. But of course she wouldn't tell _me_ any of it. Said I'd just have to find it out on my own. Which I couldn't wait to do.

* * *

 **AN: Okay, so things are all set up for the heroine of our story to arrive finally! Which means...**

 **...can you all guess what the next chapter will be?**

 **That's right!**

 **Bella is finally coming to Forks!**

 **Don't forget to review, I love your feedback!**


	9. Chapter 9: Reconnaissance, FH, Phase 2

**AN: Drumroll please! The chapter we've all been waiting for!**

 **Huge thanks to, Melody-Rose-20, chanur, and CentauRita, for reviewing Chapter 8!**

 **Now I won't keep you waiting any longer. I am very happy to give you... Chapter 9 ;-D**

 **Props to SM for all things Twilight!**

* * *

 **Chapter 9: Reconnaissance, Forks High, Phase 2**

 **Bella's POV**

On my first day at Forks High, I arrived at the school after driving around the block once to check things out at a distance. I pulled into the lot and parked my truck. It was a present from my dad Charlie. He'd had it fixed up for me out at the Rez by some friends of the family. It ran like a dream and I loved it, even if it _was_ an old clunker.

I arrived early enough that there weren't many cars in the lot yet. Being new, I wanted the opportunity to get the lay of the land before beginning my first day. I decided to discreetly run a perimeter before heading inside. I'd done a drive by inspection, sure but you can never be too careful.

At least I thought I was being discreet. Apparently not so much though because when I was nearly finished checking things out, a boy came up to me. That is to say, if you were dividing everyone into boys and girls then that's what he was. However I think that realistically Greek god would be a more accurate description. I was shamelessly ogling him when he spoke to me.

"Might I be nosy, Miss and ask what you are doing?" he smiled, sounding curious but perfectly polite.

"Um, yeah, it's pretty silly but I was actually running a perimeter check. New girl, new school, new town. Never can be too careful I guess." I said, feeling a little bit bashful for the first time in... six or seven years.

"I understand. And speaking of being the new kid on the block, I wanted to introduce myself for that exact reason. I'm Jasper Hale," he introduced himself, extending his hand, so I shook it firmly.

"I'm Bella Swan. It's good to meet you Jasper." I offered.

"Likewise, I'm sure." he returned and continued his explanation. "My siblings and I were new to town at the beginning of the school year, so we definitely know what it's like not to know anyone around here. I wanted you to know that if you need anything at all, we'd be happy to help in any way we can. Us new kids have to stick together."

He smiled and I laughed, happy to have the tension eased. I'd be the first to admit it was a relief to be so warmly welcomed.

"Thank you, that's very generous. I'll probably take you up on that. It'd be nice to have allies since I have no idea what I'm getting myself into." I nodded.

"Don't worry, you shouldn't have too much trouble with the locals. Though I generally find folks friendlier out at La Push than they are in town." he confessed.

"La Push? You know people on the Rez? Maybe you know Billy Black's kids then? Or Harry Clearwater's? I always hung out down there with them when I visited my dad every summer!" I told him excitedly.

"Yeah, I do actually. Jake, Leah and Seth are really good friends of ours. We spend a lot of time down there with them and vise versa." he nodded.

"That's awesome! I'm looking forward to seeing them all again. At least I know I have friends down there, even if I don't make too many _here_." I smiled.

"You'll make plenty, I'm sure. I can introduce you around if you like. But I will warn you though, I don't have any ins with the popular crowd, if you're looking for that. My siblings and I tend to keep to ourselves around here because we're generally the subject of nearly all of the gossip." he admitted.

"Really? Is it because you're still fairly new? I imagine the attention'll start shifting my way now if that's the case." I reassured him.

"Well, that's not the _only_ reason. Our family is pretty unconventional, so we tend to garner a lot of attention under the Cullen name." he explained.

"Cullen? I thought you said your name was _Hale_?" I asked, my instincts picking up on the disparity.

"Jasper Hale is my legal name, yes. But I am adopted. My father is Dr. Carlisle Cullen." he offered.

"Dr. Cullen of Forks Hospital?" I asked.

"Yes that's correct. Do you know him?" He asked.

"No, but I _know of_ him. I make it a point to know who all the major players are in a new place. Plus I tend to run headlong into dangerous situations without a second thought, so, I'm usually a fairly frequent visitor at the local hospital." I laughed.

"Oh my! Well at least here you'll be in good hands if you do find yourself needing a doctor. Dad's the best there is, if I do say so." he boasted, proudly, yet not egotistically.

"That's good to know." I smiled.

"Speaking of my family, I should probably warn you about my sister. My girlfriend is pretty overzealous... in the most loveable way, and she's already bouncing with excitement waiting to meet you." he stated, which was probably the single most confusing statement I had ever heard.

I shook my head to clear it. "Wait, I must be confused. Did you say sister or girlfriend or did I miss something?"

He laughed. "I wasn't sure if you'd pick up on that. No, you didn't miss anything. My siblings and I are all adopted and we were adopted in our teenage years, so we didn't grow up together. My sister _is_ my girlfriend." he clarified.

"Aww! That's adorable Jasper! It's like something out of a fairytale!" I sighed.

He chuckled abruptly at that. " _Fairytale_? I don't know too many fairytales that go quite like that Bella." he laughed.

"Alright, fiine! It's like something out of a soap opera then, is that better?" I giggled.

"Okay sure, I'll give you that one." he agreed and then seemed to be contemplating something. "Speaking of soap operas, there's something else you should know about me." he began, and I nodded.

"I'm listening." I encouraged.

"I was going to wait and let Alice tell you. She tends to be my spokesperson because I'm usually a lot more reserved than this but I already feel like we're gonna be friends so I'm comfortable telling you myself." he said and paused, either to gather his courage or for dramatic effect I wasn't sure.

"I'm two people." he blurted out, as if he were giving me the launch codes for a nuclear submarine.

"Huh?" was my eloquent response.

He sighed, clearly searching for a way to explain it better. "Okay, do you know what multiple personalities is?" he asked plainly.

"Um, you mean like on soap operas how there'll be a character who has an alter ego who is totally different from them and is usually a psycho killer?" I asked teasingly.

"Sort of, yeah." he nodded. "Well I have that. There are two different Jaspers who share this body."

"Wow. The other one isn't actually a psycho killer is he?" I asked lightly.

He deadpanned. "Depends on who you ask."

I almost started laughing until I realized he was serious. "Come again?"

"He's a soldier. Or at least he was in a past life. So he _has_ killed people. He has vivid memories from that time and that history will always be a part of him." he said matter-of-factly. _Huh, incest, multiple personalities, PTSD, past lives!? Next thing I know he's going to tell me he's a vampire or something! Hmm, well he is awfully pale, I wouldn't be that surprised._ But at least we were getting into familiar territory again.

"Well, if there is one thing I fully understand, it's the military. I've been in Naval Sea Cadets since I was ten. Ranked all the way up to CPO over the years. I actually plan on joining the service when I graduate." I told him.

"Huh. Sounds like you two have a fair bit in common then." he said seemingly not surprised.

"Yeah, it does. Will I get to meet him? I'm not sure how that all works, when does he… come out?" I asked, the whole concept of split personalities was pretty foreign to me.

"Several ways. I can choose to call him out whenever I want and let him take over. But he is also the more logical tactician of the family, so he tends to take over instinctively whenever there is any sort of threat or danger." he explained.

"Can I meet him now?" I asked, feeling like for some reason this was important.

He seemed to be thinking it over and I noticed him glance at his phone though I didn't know if he was looking for the time or expecting a text. "You sure you want to do this now?"

I got the feeling he had that same sense of importance around this that I had. "This is… monumental, isn't it?"

"For you? Yes. It will be." he said, sounding entirely like a fortune cookie. Maybe it was something to do with the past lives/old soul thing. Or maybe he was really some sort of all seeing witch or something. But he seemed to know a lot more than he was saying.

Nevertheless, I was _dying_ of anticipation by that point, so my answer was swift. "Yes, bring him out. I'm ready." And I braced myself for whatever was about to transpire.

I watched as Jasper stood at ease and dropped his head. When his eyes raised, they were black. And any doubt I had about the validity of his revelations to me was removed instantly. This was very much an entirely different man now standing before me. And all I could think was _MINE!_

When he spoke, it was a lot softer by far than what I was expecting. "Hello Darlin', Major Jasper Whitlock, at your service Ma'am." he said, lifting my hand to his lips. When he kissed me, it sent sparks of electricity shooting from my hand up through my arm and down through my whole body.

It was as if in that single moment I had come alive. As if every experience before that moment was less real. As if all of life would be more vivid now. This was the first day of the rest of my life. This was the day my life began. And I knew without a shadow of a doubt, that whatever else the Major was, he was definitely _all_ _mine_.

"I think I need to sit down." I said, feeling faint for the first time since childhood.

In one swift motion he had moved to sit cross legged on the grass and had pulled me down gently into his lap. He moved so quickly I didn't even see him move at all. And that's when I knew without a shadow of a doubt, he wasn't human. Not that it mattered anymore.

If he had been a little green alien, I would have said 'take me to your mothership'. If he'd been King Kong I would have asked him to take me home to his island and stay the frick frack away from the empire state building. If he had been a demon, sadly, I probably would have offered myself in sacrifice. If he had been an ancient deity I would have worshipped faithfully at his alter. And if he were Frankenstein's monster, I would have gladly been his bride.

"Are you alright Darlin'? You better not be fixin' to faint on me Sweetheart, I'd hate for you to have to miss your first day if I have to take you to Carlisle." he said.

"Carlisle? Oh you mean Dr. Cullen?" I asked, still shell shocked.

"Yes, Carlisle. Jazz sometimes calls him dad but to me he's more like my general and my advisor all rolled into one. If he's the president then I'm the secretary of defense I guess you could say." he explained.

"Oh okay. Well I don't think I need to go to the hospital. But I do not know how I'm supposed to go to class either. This has turned out to be a much bigger day than I expected." I said, still sitting in his lap while he played with my hair. It felt so good I was barely still capable of coherent speech.

"Would it make it easier to go to class if I told you we're in all the same classes and you won't have to leave my side all day?" he asked. Though I didn't see how that was possible.

"How do you know that? I don't even have my schedule yet." I asked, leaning back into his soothing touch.

"I sort of... hacked the school's computers and changed our schedules to match." he confessed reluctantly.

"Are you psychic, did you see this?" I asked, knowing it had to be something like that.

"Not me, Alice. We've been preparin' for your arrival for months." he admitted.

"Months!? But even I didn't know I was coming here that long ago. This wasn't a very well planned out move for me. If it was I'd have been starting at the beginning of the year instead of the middle." I said, turning in his lap to look up at him.

"When did your Mom first tell you that they were movin' to Jacksonville?" he asked patiently. _Wow, he knows even more than I thought._

"Um, this summer sometime." I approximated.

"An' you decided right away that you didn't want to go with 'em, right?" he prompted.

"Yeah but I didn't tell them that for quite some time though." I disputed.

"No, but Alice sees the future based on decisions. So the moment you decided it, the future changed." he explained.

"Huh, that's pretty impressive." I acknowledged.

"Yes, yes it is." he nodded. Then he looked up at the sky for a minute. "We're goin' to have to move soon." he said.

I thought about that statement for a moment. _Why, does he know it's going to rain or something?_ But no, the clouds seemed to be clearing. "I don't mind getting rained on." I smiled.

"No Darlin'. But I mind gettin' sunned on. I have an allergy to the sun." he admitted.

 _Moves faster than the eye can see, sister is psychic, incredibly pale, has memories of a 'past life' of killing people, allergy to the sun!?_ "Huh, yeah we'd better get you inside then." I nodded emphatically, knowing that if anything ever happened to him it would be the end of everything. The end of me.

We went inside and headed to the cafeteria, still having a fair bit of time until the bell. I thought about how to ask what I needed to know. And there were so many questions, I didn't know where to start. "So, the other Jasper told me a bit about your history. You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, but I do have a few questions." I said.

"I'll do my best to answer 'em. But I hope you'll understand that there are a few things I can't directly say." he smiled. I was sitting in his lap again, though this time we were at a table, not on the floor. He had resumed playing with my hair and it was extremely relaxing.

"Do you still? Kill people, that is." I said, quietly enough that no one would ever hear us, not that there were too many students around yet, but still. And I had a feeling he'd hear me loud and clear.

"I try not to." he answered honestly. "But know that I wouldn't hesitate for a moment if anyone were ever a threat to you."

I smiled softly. A statement like that might have freaked out some girls. But I knew when he said that, that there was no greater sign he could have possibly given to reassure me that whatever this was, it was hitting him just as strongly as it was hitting me. "Thank you." I said softly.

"Anythin' Darlin'. Anything at all." he said. Which gave me the confidence to keep asking questions.

"So, how do you… _feed_ then?" he looked shocked for a moment but concealed it quickly.

"Oh you _are_ a quick one. That took you far less time than I had guess it would. I'm impressed." he said and for a moment I didn't think he'd answer. "Animals. Preferably carnivores."

"That's a big relief. Not that I would have minded, really. But it'd be hard to get very far if I had to keep convincing you not to eat me." I winked.

"Angel. Has anyone ever told you how wonderful you are?" he sighed, burying his face in my hair.

"Not often. Maybe you can rectify that?" I smiled.

"Oh you know I will." he said eagerly. And just then, the bell rang.

* * *

 **AN: Lemme know what you think of Bella so far okay? Okay!**


	10. Chapter 10: Introductions, Phase 1

**AN: Okay folks, now it's time for the girls to meet!**

 **But first I want to thank everyone who follows, favorites and reads this story! Special thanks to La Diablo Blanc2, decadenceofmysoul, Ginger Skellington Archer, Tayjj44, sweetsouthernsongbird, a Guest, Misticshay24, a Guest, Melody-Rose-20, casedeputy, kouga's older woman, bella14340, AubriannaRose, kelmikmag, Chise Sakamoto, chanur, LittleBlackChat, ckaren09, and CentauRita, for reviewing last chapter! You all rock so freakin' hard and I love y'all like mad!**

 **Alice is excited to meet Bella, so let's get on with it, shall we?**

 **Oh, so I don't own Twilight, and I also don't own** _ **any**_ **ABC soap operas which will be important for this chapter, lol!**

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Introductions, Phase 1**

 **Alice's POV**

I was buzzing with anticipation from the time we arrived at school that morning, but I was patiently biding my time. I knew Jazzy would run into Bella first thing, because I had seen it before it happened. So I deliberately hung back with Emmett and Rose because I wanted to allow their first meeting to occur without my interference. I knew our initial plans would be changing. I was originally supposed to befriend Bella first and _then_ introduce her to Jazz and _eventually_ , to The Major.

But The Major had been waiting for a century and a half to find Bella, so I understood Jazzy's decision to tell her right away instead. And as soon as the decision was made, I saw that it would be alright. Thankfully, Bella was perfect for The Major. And if there'd been any doubt of that before, it was erased as soon as we all heard her responses and acceptance while they discussed things.

I had seen many flashes of her life back in Phoenix. So I already knew of her military training from her years in Cadets and I knew all about her Capoeira classes where she'd recently achieved the level of an instructor, earning her blue belt. Her hobbies also included some very unusual books and television in her spare time, so it shouldn't have been very surprising to me that she was so laid back about vampires. But I'd never witnessed a human finding out what we are before, and I'd expected at least _some_ shock or surprise.

It made me wonder if this was possibly not her first exposure to our kind, but I shrugged it off, thinking that it was a crazy notion. Surely she'd never met any other vampires before. _But she is definitely about to meet plenty of us now!_ I thought to myself. Her conversation with The Major seemed to be winding down, so I decided to introduce myself just as the bell rang and they stood up to go inside.

Jazzy had already explained to her about my exuberance and she hadn't sounded put off, so I decided to just be myself when I approached her. I walked up to them casually with a happy smile on my face. "Hello Major, mind if I introduce myself to Bella?" I asked, knowing he wouldn't want anyone, even _me_ , to approach his mate without warning.

"Can't see as there's any point in stoppin' ya Alice. I already know the two o' ya are scheduled to be thick as thieves, so you might as well start now." he said, stepping to the side a bit to allow me room to face Bella, though I noticed he didn't let go of her hand.

"Bella!" I squealed, carefully pulling her into an eager but gentle hug. I had been waiting almost as anxiously as he had for this moment and now that it was finally here, I was overwrought with the emotion of our first meeting. I knew that if I could, I'd be crying happy tears as I clutched tightly to the young woman who was going to change all of our lives for the better. "In case it wasn't obvious from the squealing, I'm Alice!" I laughed, pulling away enough to give her some breathing room.

As she replied that it was nice to meet me and got over the shock of my hug, I realized we'd better address the timeshare issue sooner rather than later. "Bella, would you mind terribly if The Major gave the reigns back over to my Jazzy for the school day? I promise he will switch right back for you at lunch and again after school, it's just that Jazzy's _control_ is more practiced so he's usually in charge during times when there are lots of people and scents around. That's how they're able to stay vegetarian." I whispered so that none of the humans now filtering into the school would hear us.

The Major scowled for a moment at the idea of losing time with her but he quickly saw reason and rushed to reassure her, much to my appreciation. "She's right Darlin'. Technically Jasper's the veggie one an' I'm usually just along for the ride, givin' him free rein o' our diet." he nodded.

"Oh. Sure thing, no problem then." she said, looking disappointed at having to part with him for even a short time, but understanding the need for it.

"Thank you Sweetheart." he said, kissing her forehead with a smile. "I'll see you at lunch time then, lil' lady." he assured her, taking an at ease stance and allowing Jazzy back to the forefront.

Before either Jazz or Bella had a chance to say anything, I took his hand in one of mine and hers in the other. "Come on, let's walk to class for now and we can answer any questions you have at lunch!" I said, swinging my arms and pulling them down the hallway.

Bella sighed, seeming like she wanted to protest the idea of dropping the conversation, but she clearly realized this wasn't the time or place to have the discussions we needed to have. Instead she gave a half laugh looking at our swinging arms and muttered to no one in particular, "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

* * *

 **Bella's POV**

Alice was…

Okay, let me start over...

…

…

...Okay, nope, there really are no words to describe Alice. She's like... if someone took a Disney Princess and hopped her up on sugar _and_ energy drinks _and_ coffee.

It was pretty surreal meeting Alice. In some ways she reminded me of my mom, except that Alice actually seemed to know what was going on and have a plan in place. To be fair though, _all_ of my first day was pretty surreal. I felt like I had stepped into an episode of Port Charles!

Yeah, so The Major would be like Caleb then and Jazz was like Michael, except he wasn't a priest, lol! And I guess that would make me Livie and Alice was Eve? Although maybe she was more like Alison which would make Jazz more like Jamal or Rafe. _Ugh, I should be listening to the teacher instead of comparing real life to fiction!_

Besides, I didn't think there was actually a magical hot springs they could all jump in to turn human again, so maybe this wasn't _quite_ like Port Charles. And to my knowledge, The Major didn't have a career doubling as a rock star! Although that _would_ be pretty sweet!

"Miss Swan? Can you tell me the answer to the question I just asked?" the teacher said, clearly annoyed that I had been daydreaming.

"Umm, no Sir, I'm sorry. I didn't actually hear the question." I said. Better to face the music than to lie about it.

He sighed. "Miss Swan, I know that you likely already covered this unit at your old school, but still. Is it really asking too much to expect you to pay attention?"

Before I had a chance respond, Alice spoke from her seat next to me. "Actually Mr. Speck, Sir, it was my fault that Bella was distracted. I had just given her my notes for the class when you ask your question and she was looking over them which is why she didn't hear you. I apologize, Sir." she said trying her best to look contrite.

"Very well then, Alice. It was good of you to offer your notes to Miss Swan. However next time, please do so when we aren't in the middle of a discussion." he said, resuming the topic at hand.

"Thanks Alice." I whispered softly, knowing she would hear me just fine.

She nodded and smiled happily in my direction before returning her attention to the class. Though I had the feeling that she could have paid attention to several things at one time and was probably aware of what every single student was doing or saying in the room.

* * *

After our morning classes it was lunch time. We were all a little relieved when the bell rang to dismiss us for the noon hour. Alice guided us quickly to the parking lot at what I imagined must have felt like a snail's pace to them. As soon as we got into the lot, true to her word, Alice gave Jasper a kiss and said goodbye to her man for the time being. I watched, fascinated, as mine took over. _Mine?_ Had I really already begun to consider The Major _mine_? I suppose I had. And while it _did_ seem altogether too sudden, it also felt entirely _natura_ l as if a part of me had known all along that I belonged to him.

It was unnerving to think of myself as belonging to anyone. As a modern and independent woman, I didn't feel I needed a man to define me and I didn't have any desire to be anyone's property. So the sense I felt of belonging to Jasper, was _at first_ , entirely disconcerting to me. I quickly realized however that I didn't belong to him in the sense that he _owned_ me. I wasn't a possession to be acquired or gained. Instead, the fact of the matter was that I belonged to him in the same way that he belonged to me; in essence we truly belonged to one another. Like neither of us would be complete without the other person.

Although the issue of completion was a _little_ more complicated than that. Because The Major, in and of himself was not complete, not without Jazz. And Jasper _Hale_ was not complete without Alice. In some ways, I guessed it would end up being a little bit similar to the way that some of the Mormon groups lived, wherein the men would have multiple women in their lives. I allowed myself to see the humor in it as I halfheartedly contemplated whether or not we would end up having to move to Utah.

And how would I ever explain this to my parents? It was odd that I found myself wanting to jump in with both feet so soon. Already, in my mind, there was no question of whether or not I would be with The Major. The only question was what pace we would be moving forward at. As cheesy as it sounded it was love at first sight. I had never thought such things even existed in the real world. But then again, I hadn't believed that _vampires_ existed in the real world, until I was face to face with _them_ either.

I was stirred from my thoughts when I realized The Major was speaking to me. "Would you like to know where we are goin' Darlin'?" he smiled, clearly curious as to what I had been thinking about.

"That depends," I replied. He and I were sitting in the back holding hands while Alice drove. " is it supposed to be a surprise?" I asked.

"Well now _that_ depends. On whether or not you like surprises lil' lady." he winked.

"I do sometimes." I smiled as we drove away from the school. "But in this case, I think I might be better off prepared."

"Alright, I'll tell you then. I thought it might be nice to introduce you to the rest of the family. They've been waitin' fer a long time to meet ya. We're goin' home for the lunch hour at my place. Unless ya object?" he asked, but I could tell it would disappoint him if I didn't want to go. Which was a moot point, since I really _did_ want to go.

"Nope, no objections here." I smiled. Then I realized something. "Oh, but you probably don't have human food, so should I grab something somewhere on the way?"

He smiled happily. "Actually Darlin', Carlisle's wife Esme, has been lookin' forward to your first visit so much that she probably has a whole smorgasbord prepared for you at the house."

"Oh! She really didn't have to do that! That sounds like a whole lot of trouble. I'm really low maintenance, I swear!" I said cringing at the thought of anyone going to so much trouble just for me.

"It's no trouble trust me she loves to fuss. She's thrilled to do it and it gives her somethin' nice to do. We tend to get bored easily havin' so much time on our hands." he assured me and I felt a little better.

"Well alright then, if you're sure she doesn't mind, I guess it's okay. It's still awfully sweet of her though." I smiled. Then I had another thought.

"So, just for curiosity's sake, do _all_ of your family share your diet?" I asked, though I don't know why I bothered asking, since I was absolutely certain I would be safe with Jasper's family _regardless_ of their diet.

He hesitated a brief moment before answering. " Actually no. Most of them do, but my brother Peter and sister Charlotte prefer to drink from more conventional sources." he said. "As do some of our friends."

"Huh, good to know." I nodded, and even though I wasn't _very_ nervous, I still enjoyed the soothing circles he was rubbing on my hand with his cold fingers. And a couple of minutes later, we were pulling into what I assumed was their driveway, in front of a home that was somehow both opulent and welcoming. _Well, here goes nothing!_

He took my hand, helping me out of the car. "Ready Darlin'?" he asked me.

"Yep, let's do this!" I said, my stride and speech both reflecting more confidence than I actually felt, and we went inside to 'meet the family'.

* * *

 **AN: Okay, so now I'm curious which family members you think Bella will meet next chapter!**

 **Hugs! Love ta hear yer feedback lil' Darlins'!**

 **-BMW**


	11. Chapter 11: Introductions, Phase 2

**AN: Howdy all!**

 **Huge thanks to sweetsouthernsongbird, La Diablo Blanc2, decadenceofmysoul, Misticshay24, acw1, Ahyah, casedeputy, kelmikmag, Melody-Rose-20, Chise Sakamoto, chanur, MissLuciusNightWings, and CentauRita, for reviewing Chapter 10! And also, many thanks to those who read, favorite and review this story! I couldn't (and wouldn't) do this without you!**

 **\- Hugs! BMW**

 **Oh yeah... so my first name isn't Stephenie and I also don't share my last name with a hotdog brand, therefore, as you can imagine, I really,** _ **really,**_ **don't own Twilight! ;-D**

* * *

 **Chapter 11: Introductions, Phase 2**

 **Major's POV**

The three of us walked into the house. I could tell by their scents that everyone else was already home. It was the first time in a long time that the whole family was all together, an' even our allied covens were at home in their own respective dwellings on the Cullen property. Iffin I'd've wanted to, I coulda introduced her to _all_ the extended family at the same time. But I wanted to _woo_ Bella, not send her runnin' fer tha hills.

I took both her hands in mine as we stood just inside the doorway. "I asked everyone to make 'emselves a bit scarce at first, cuz I didn't wanna overwhelm ya Darlin'. So they're all spread out around the place doin' their own thing, and we can go find 'em, one couple at a time, when I give you the grand tour of the house and property later, which might hafta wait until after school when we can take our time. But first, there are a couple o' nosy folk in the livin' room who wouldn't be denied," I said, guiding her slowly into where I knew we'd find 'em.

I cleared my throat and they stood at attention. "Bella, I'd like ya to meet the two people in this wide world I've known the longest. This is my brother Peter and my sister Charlotte, but we call 'em Pete and Char, although you'd be welcome to call him 'Nosy Fucker' and her 'Saint Char' for puttin' up with him over the years. But hey, that's just one man's opinion," I smirked.

She laughed and rolled her eyes at me, before extendin' her hand to Pete an' then acceptin' a very enthusiastic hug from Char. "Right, I think that's macho man speak for saying you love 'em both to death and would die for them, isn't it?" she smiled, and in that moment I knew I'd do absolutely anything to see her smile like that everyday fer tha rest o' my unworthy existence.

I nodded stiffly. "Damn straight. But you shouldn't let _him_ know that. Don't wanna inflate the fucker's head so much he can't fit it through the doorways." I said, my expression carefully neutral. Can't have her turnin' me into an emotional sap already on our very first day together, though she clearly has more n' enough power in her pinky finger ta do just that.

"Don't worry Major." she smirked, "Your secret's safe with me."

"Why thank you kindly Ma'am" I nodded.

"It's very nice to meet you both." she said, turnin' back to them an' all but ignorin' me, though somethin' told me she was still _very_ aware of me in her periphery.

"Likewise, lil' lady. Everyone around here's been chompin' at the bit ta meet you. Though I guess we have even more than most, since we know The Major better than anyone else does. An' we've been dyin' ta see what kind of a filly could be so perfectly suited to his ornery ol' ass." Pete said with a laugh that didn't last long once Char elbowed him roughly.

"What my ever so _considerate_ mate here _meant_ to say is that you must be someone really special, because it takes a special kind of woman to put up with these two an' don't I know it. So I think you an' I are gonna get to be _real_ good friends Sugar." she said, smilin' her trademark Charlotte Whitlock grin that lit up her whole face and made you _want_ to like her.

It was much different from her _other_ trademark Charlotte Whitlock grin, the one that made you want to shut up an' behave yerself. No, _that_ one was reserved fer naughty boys an' was the same look she used on her food. Unlike _that_ look, this one was entirely pleasant.

An' as could be expected, Bella returned Char's smile with a brilliant one of her own. Then she pulled her into a conspiratorial huddle just out of what would have been human earshot o' me an' Pete. An' grabbin' Alice by the arm, she dragged her into it too. "I think we'll _have_ _to_ be. I get the distinct feeling I'm gonna _need_ a couple of strong female allies around these boys. Something tells me their mischievous streak is a whole lot longer than my lil' ol' human arms can reach." she smirked, with a wink back in my direction.

 _Now was it just me, or did_ that _sound like a challenge?_

I started slowly struttin' toward her with what I knew to be a _very_ predatory look in my always dark eyes. She was smart enough to back slowly away from my invasion. "You _may_ just be correct about that Darlin'. An' our hearin' range is _also_ a whole lot longer than yer lil' ol' human _ears_ can reach. So next time ya plan on makin' allegiances with yer co conspirators here, I'd recommend given yerselves a _wider birth_." An' with that I gave chase (at a very human pace of course)

The sounds of her laughter as she ran around the livin' room, smartly tryin' ta keep Alice an' Char between her an' me, were beautiful music to my ears. And while most humans ran in a disorganized fashion, when Bella ran, it was almost a dance. Watchin' her weave in an' out between Char an' Alice like that, you'd almost think that _she_ was the vampire. It was _totally hot_.

Knowin' we had a limited time for lunch, an' I still had to get her fed, I unfortunately had to put a temporary end to our fun. So I caught up to her an' used my vampire strength to subdue her (since I definitely couldn't have done it with regular human strength). Then of course, I spent a much shorter amount of time than I would have liked to, ticklin' her. The sound of her laughter kept makin' me smile an' I probably would have continued but Esme called out from the kitchen that Bella's lunch was ready whenever we were.

"Come on Darlin', time to replenish all that energy you just expended with those fancy moves of yours." I said, helpin' her to her feet (just 'cuz she didn't need the help, didn't mean I couldn't be a gentleman anyway). "I don't even know what half o' that stuff was, Darlin'. Alice told me about the Capoeira, which by the way was _mighty_ impressive when I looked it up online. But with the way some of yer rolls an' vaults looked, I think I also detected some o' that Parkour stuff in there too?" I asked as I escorted her into the kitchen.

"Yeah, one of my friends from Cadets started teaching me some this past year. She figured I'd be into it because I love Capoeira so much. She said martial arts are good for learning how to face your opponent, but that it never hurts to learn how to get away from them too. Although, If she had known my future involved running around with super-humanly fast people, she might have laughed and told me not to bother. It's obvious any skills I have are a mute point around Vampires." she chuckled, using the 'V' word for the first time. I liked the way _she_ said it, makin' it sound like somethin' to be aspired to instead of as a cuss word, like sometimes when Rose or Edward would say it.

"Well you're _very_ skilled Angel. And if it weren't for the difference in our species, I dunno if even _I_ could have subdued you. An' I've had a century an' a half to train in hand-to-hand combat. I'm more n' a mite impressed Darlin'." I smiled, an' before she could reply, her eyes fell on the dinin' room table. She came up short an' just stood starin' at it.

Our conversation long forgotten, she spoke sniffin' the air with her jaw hangin' open. "Um, Major, what _is_ all this?" she asked dumbfoundedly, just as Esme flitted into the room with yet another plate of food.

Esme set the last plate down an' slowly approached Bella, sparin' a glance my way to make sure it was alright. I nodded an' she pulled my startled mate in for a motherly hug. "Bella Sweetheart, it's so good to finally meet you! I'm sorry I made so much food, I just simply had no idea what you would feel like and I wanted your first meal here to be something of your choosing. But the lunch hour is so short, I didn't want you to have to wait while I cooked for you or to feel that you had to pick something easy. So I made some of everything and whatever you don't want, we'll just take out to La Push so that it doesn't go to waste." she smiled.

And yes, she was tellin' the truth when she said she made some of _everythin_ '. There was a burger platter with a hamburger, chicken burger, veggie burger and fish burger along with fries, yam fries, onion rings and potato wedges. There was a hot sandwich platter with a steak sandwich, hot turkey sandwich, pizza melt, and a fried egg sandwich accompanied by deep fried pickles and homemade potato chips.

There was a cold platter of sandwiches with tuna salad, chicken salad, cucumber, and egg salad accompanied by pasta salad, potato salad and coleslaw. There was a submarine sandwich platter with roast beef, ham and swiss, philly cheesesteak and even meatball subs accompanied by cookies. There was also a choice of four different soups, four different kinds of pie, a tray of squares (or sweets or whatever you want to call them), a veggie tray and a fruit tray.

"Umm wow! I don't really know what to say, Esme, this is… a lot. I appreciate the gesture but I certainly hope you didn't spend all day in the kitchen just for me." she said in awe, puttin' the chicken burger and a stack of yam fries on the plate in front of her knowin' that we were pressed for time.

"It wasn't any trouble at all Sweetheart. If there is one thing we tend to experience rather often, being immortal and incapable of sleep, it's boredom. This has given me something enjoyable to do today. And I can assure you that we don't get tired, worn out, stiff or sore, so I am absolutely no worse the wear for it. Now dig in, before we end up making you late for your next class!" Esme smiled happily.

"Okay… well, thank you very much. It really was sweet of you to do all of this Esme. Even if it _wasn't_ any trouble, it was obviously still a lot of effort and it was _extremely_ thoughtful of you." Bella smiled beginnin' to eat quickly while still takin' enough time to enjoy the food. The cute little moans and groans she was makin' while she ate, not only told me she must have _really_ liked her meal, but also succeeded in sendin' a current straight to my groin as I pictured her moanin' for more _mutually beneficial_ reasons.

An' Pete kep' grinnin' like an idiot at me while I watched her eat, so I'm sure he had a pretty good idea what I was thinkin' about, even though he couldn't precisely read my mind like Edward could have. I shot him a look along the lines of 'Keep yer mouth shut unless ya want me ta shut it for ya.' so he excused himself after a while to go snicker somewhere outta Bella's earshot. Of course, _I_ still heard him chucklin' loud an' clear.

After Bella was finished eatin' her lunch, Carlisle came back inside from visitin' with our house guests. He introduced himself to her warmly. She already knew _of_ him from his work at the hospital but they had never met. They seemed to hit it off just fine, an' he told her if she ever needed anythin' she shouldn't hesitate to ask, which I much appreciated. I was pleased as punch that everyone was goin' out of their way to be friendly to her.

I knew Emmett an' Rose also wanted to meet her sooner than later, so we had arranged for them to drive Bella and I back to school while Pete an' Char drove Alice. That way they could meet, an' it would also give Bella an' I a bit more time together before I had to bring Jazz back out for our afternoon classes.

In the car on tha way back, I got a lil' bit o' insight into what Bella thought about things so far. "Your family all seem so nice." she smiled, holdin' my hand. "I did want to ask you, when Pete and Char introduced themselves, she referred to him as her 'mate'... Is that, I mean, I'm assuming, that would be what we are?" she inquired.

I nodded. "Yes, you are my mate. I hope it doesn't weird you out to put a label on it like that. It's just the way things are done in my world." I said.

"No, I don't mind. It's nice, it has more of a certainty about it than calling you my boyfriend would. So, Alice is Jazz's mate right?" she pondered.

"Yes, she is. I know that part at least has to be somewhat weird for you?" I asked, afraid of the answer.

"Actually, not so much as you might expect, no. I'm from Phoenix which I guess you knew, and one of the places we always went camping was to the north up in Utah. There was a family from one of the polygamous Mormon groups there who used to camp at the same place as us and their girls would ask me what my life was like and tell me all about theirs. So believe it or not, I actually know a lot about that sort of thing, though I know our circumstances are entirely different, just as you and Jazz are actually different people. But you do share a body, so it's similar in that regard." she smiled, surprisin' me yet again.

She thought for a minute an' then continued. "Plus it seems pretty straightforward so far. Looks like I'll probably be getting you before and after school and at lunchtime, and we all spend classes together to some extent, so that would be like 'family time' and since you all don't sleep, I imagine Alice gets Jazzy at night? But on days when there is no school, I'm definitely planning to hog even more of your time during the day." she beamed as if she had just found a ring in her crackerjack box.

"Damn, woman! Sounds like you've already got it all figured out!" I laughed, runnin' my fingers through her hair as we pulled up to the school. "And lemme tell you right now, I can't _wait_ for school to be over!" I asserted with a grin.

"Me either. I don't know how I'm supposed to pay attention to the teachers!" she laughed as we got out of the car and Alice came skippin' over.

"Here, let's make it really easy for you Bella. If you manage to put your daydreaming about The Major aside long enough to get straight A's in all your classes, then I'll relinquish Jazzy for all of spring break so that you and The Major can take a little holiday just the two of you. What would you say to that?" Alice asked Bella and I was awed that she would do somethin' so sweet for us, so I projected my gratitude, an' she smiled back warmly.

"I'd say you're on!" Bella grinned, an' without hesitation wrapped Alice in a hug. I could feel Bella's gratitude too, so I projected it onto Alice also before lettin' Jazzy take over again fer tha rest o' the school day.

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 **AN: y** **'all feel free now ta take some time out to review!**

 **-Xoxo Mwah!**

 **(Oh and ps: I'm sorry there is no Jazzy POV fer this one! He wasn't around at lunchtime, so he didn't really have much to say. I'll eventually do a chapter that's just split between him an' Alice for all of you Jazz fans, but I'm not sure exactly where it'll fit in. We have several more chapters before we get into the really fun stuff ;-P Gotta make sure all my duckies are in a row first! Quack!)**


	12. Chapter 12: Meeting Our Allies, Phase 1

**AN: Okay, so first off, I want to thank everyone, for being so patient while waiting for an update of this story! First there were several technical difficulties that set me back, and then more recently, I've been working on a collaborative story, which I sort of fell into through a pretty cool series of events. If you want to check that one out, her username is KarleighAnn and the story is called Before the Dawn, it's basically badass Bella fighting off zombies in a post apocalyptic world.**

 **Also, I want to thank those who have been following or have favorited this story, and a huge thanks to: sweetsouthernsongbird, decadenceofmysoul, MountinStar, Melody-Rose-20, kouga's older woman, chanur, acw1, casedeputy, Jacqueline, I love twilight bella Whitlock, Nissa-Cullen, a Guest, LittleBlackChat, Lilrobo02, That Artist Girl, NinaBear713, and CentauRita, for reviewing Chapter 11!**

 **Y'all are tha most fun The Major an' I can have with our boots on! So, without making you wait any longer, here's Chapter 12!**

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 **Chapter 12: Meeting Our Allies, Phase 1**

 **Bella's POV**

Over the few days that had passed since I'd started school, The Major and I had become totally inseparable. We decided not to hide our relationship, and as such it was garnering us a bit of attention among the other students. I found out pretty quickly, though, that the Cullens were already seen as the 'weird' kids so it wasn't really _that_ surprising to people that Alice and I were 'sharing Jasper'.

And thus far, everything was going really well on that front. I'd been really impressed by The Major. He himself was a study of extremes. I saw how rigid and tactically minded he was, with everyone else in his life, whenever we were spending time together at the Cullen property.

But whenever _I_ was directly involved, he was so... _kind_. He held doors open for me, drove me everywhere, insisted on paying for everything, and would literally _growl_ on the rare occasion that anyone said anything even remotely rude to or about me. He was a true southern gentleman.

I'd always been perfectly capable of taking care of myself, so it wasn't really that I _needed_ his protection, (at least not where humans were concerned, that is) but it was certainly nice to have someone who _wanted_ to protect and provide for me. With most people I was always the one who took care of things, even with my own parents. So honestly, it felt good to be able to just hand those worries over to someone, relax and let him do the worrying for a change.

Although with all of the precautions The Major had already been making, for my safety, there really wasn't much worrying left to do. I was truly impressed with the operation he was running. The Cullen property was organized as a sort of military HQ. There were never any less than four vampires on active guard duty, around the property, at any given time. Usually that number was raised to at least six soldiers patrolling whenever I was on the premises, because two also stayed in my personal vicinity at all times.

I was learning a bit about the wolves and their alliance with my vampire family, which was what they really were becoming to me; _family_. There were constantly wolves patrolling on the reservation land as well as outside of the treaty area in a wider perimeter of the Olympic Peninsula, which was being protected by _both_ the wolves and vampires, patrolling _together_ at all times.

If an enemy even _thought_ about setting foot in the area, the scents of so many vampires and wolves would likely be enough to change their mind. Which is why on the weekend, when The Major, Alice, and I were finally heading out to La Push, so that I could meet the wolves in person for the first time, I finally decided to ask him more about our enemies.

"Major, I know you have everything well under control. And I trust that any potential threats are being taken care of. But I must admit, I want to know more about the situation that we are facing. Who _are_ our enemies? I know you said that you expect your past to catch up with us, now that your identity is common knowledge, but who exactly are we expecting trouble from?" I asked, as he drove along.

"Do you honestly want to know lil' Darlin'? Cuz if so, I'll be frank an' tell ya, but by no means is it a _short_ list," he smiled apologetically at me as we pulled into the driveway of what I assumed must be the Pack's house.

"Yes. I'll be better off knowing who is a threat to us and who isn't, I think," I answered.

"Alright, well, remember when I told ya about my time in the Southern Wars?" He asked, I nodded. "Well for one thing, my former sire, Maria, is out there still runnin' the Mexican coven. And runnin' it _poorly_ from what my sources say. So it wouldn't surprise me if she does decide to track me down one day in the hopes of persuadin' me to rejoin her.

"An' we Whitlocks surely made ourselves plenty o' enemies back in those days, who might still be holdin' a grudge about some o' the things we did. _That_ list is virtually endless. We picked a whole lot of fights down south with other covens an' nomads, at Maria's behest, back then. Not to mention that Pete an' Char an' I, weren't the only ones ever to escape, so if any of Maria's former newborns got out and realized they weren't exactly treated so well under her regime, they might come lookin' fer _us_ , as her former soldiers, to settle the score, assumin' us to be easier targets than she is.

"Plus, a large part of Maria's limited success over the years since then, has been created by the stories that were told in the camps, about 'The God of War'. She's literally been livin' offa my reputation, an' _she_ caused those stories to spread like wildfire, cuz she figured it'd make her look badass to have sired an' trained such a killin' machine.

"In other words, any idiot thrill seeker with a death wish, or worse; a god complex, might eventually come lookin' fer me just on the possibility of gettin' tha chance to fight me. Again, none of these things are guaranteed ta happen, but it surely pays to be prepared.

"An' don't even get me started on the Volturi. _They_ _will_ come eventually. That one is a given. Tisn't a matter o' _if_ with them. It's a matter of _when_. You see, lil' Darlin', while the forces I've been gatherin' are meant only for our protection, the Volturi won't care about my reasoning. They tend ta see anyone with a large enough coven, or enough allies, as a threat to their power. An' they have powerful gifts amongst their ranks, that _are_ a _real_ threat.

"So, while there is still a lot that I hope ta accomplish before they ever darken our doorstep, it is an eventuality that we are definitely preparin' for. An' I just hope we have enough time to pull it all off," he said, helping me out of the car as we headed up to the Pack house to greet the wolves.

I was surprised when the first boy I saw there, was none other than a boy who I used to spend my summers daring to eat sand on the beach with me. _Jacob Black_ had certainly _grown_ since the last time I saw him! Though after everything the Cullens had told me about the wolves, I suspected a good portion of that growth was supernatural. He was still a couple years younger than me but I had to look _way_ up to meet his eyes.

"Jake!?" I exclaimed as he scooped me up into a big squishy hug.

"Bella Swan!" He laughed, spinning me around and making me a little dizzy before setting me down again.

"That's muh name, don't wear it out. How the hell have ya been, Jake? It's been a _long_ time!" I said as we walked into the Pack house with him.

"I've been pretty damn good, Bells. And well fed thanks to your, ah, what would she be? Mother-in-law, or something? Anyway is that more grub for the troops?" Jake asked, eyeing the boxes The Major and Alice were carrying.

"You bet Jake. Esme sent over soup and sandwiches, turkey dinner with fixings, roast with yorkshires, and a few pies. Want us to leave them on the counter?" Alice replied.

"Yeah that's great, we'll put 'em away after we do the introductions. Tell her thank you for us, would ya?" He grinned. It would seem, my vampire family was keeping the pack fed just the same as they were keeping me fed, which was good. I'd rather not think I was the _only_ one Esme insisted on cooking for.

We joined Jake in the living room, as a bunch of boys (and a few girls) who I assumed were the wolves, began filtering in to join us. Once they were all assembled, there were _twenty four_ wolves in the room. Although they just looked like regular people to me. While Jasper had explained their phasing and whatnot, it was still a little unbelievable, but I knew it would seem more real to me once I saw them shift with my own two eyes.

"So, _this_ is the girl we're all bending over backwards for?" One of the wolf girls asked. She didn't say it with any real malice, but there was a heavy sense of irritation and annoyance in her tone.

I decided I'd better nip her whole attitude issue in the bud before it became any sort of a problem for us. "Listen honey, I dunno what crawled up your craw, but I'm not expecting anyone to 'bend over backwards for me'. In fact, _I personally_ haven't asked anyone to do _anything,_ yet. Now, The Major might be asking for your help, but if you think for a second that the only ones who benefit from this are _us_ , then you obviously haven't been paying close attention.

"You know that saying, the enemy of my enemy is my friend? Well I'm pretty sure that any enemy of ours, would also be an enemy of yours. Considering I don't foresee our enemies coming here and simply draining _deer_ for their sustenance, and their amusement, during their quest to _kill us_ , do you, Alice?" I asked rhetorically. She managed to keep a straight face while shaking her head.

"Yeah, see I didn't think so. In fact, I'd say it's more likely, based on what I've heard so far of the way things are done down South, that the number of local casualties, will be _astronomical,_ if we don't have sufficient numbers on our side. But with your help, we can pretty much eliminate _whatever_ is heading our way, before any harm comes to the people of Washington. So don't think for a second that your contributions are not important. In fact, I'd pretty much say they're _vital_.

"Mind you, just because we need your help, doesn't mean we also need your crap, so if you have a problem with me for some reason, I think we had better settle it, don't you?" I asked, looking her straight in the eye.

She changed her tune pretty quickly after that. "No, no problem here. I guess I wasn't thinking about the bigger picture. This whole 'wolf thing' is new to all of us and I'm having some issues adjusting to it. Sorry for taking my shit out on you," she said.

"No problem. I understand. All this supernatural stuff can be a little hard to take in, I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name?" I asked, extending my hand for her to shake.

"Its Leah, and thanks for understanding," her mouth quirked up into something that could almost be construed as a smile.

"Right, you're Harry's daughter! It's really no sweat. And hey, if you ever need to talk, I'm sure you know where to find me," I smiled, reassuringly.

* * *

After a while of meeting all the new wolves, the general consensus was that we all hit it off pretty well. I felt a bit bad for Jake though. He spent a lot of time reminiscing about things we did together as kids, and I started to get the impression those memories may have meant something more to him than they did to me.

I definitely wanted his friendship, but I really hoped he wasn't thinking it could turn into more. I knew from the first day that I met The Major, that _he_ was the missing piece I had been looking for all of my life.

Sure, he's a vampire. Sure, it's really freaking complicated. For that reason, and also because he happens to share a body with Jazz, who is mated to Alice. Sure, he's the baddest mofo on probably the entire planet, and has slaughtered entire villages in the name of Maria's greed. And sure, there are countless, nameless, faceless, enemies, lining up at the proverbial door to take us out. But all of that is okay. Because I certainly wouldn't give up an eternity of this exciting madness for a human lifetime spent with someone more 'normal'.

Afterall… what's normal really got to offer me anyway?

* * *

 **AN: Okay, so, next chapter will be Bella meeting all the vampire allies she hasn't met yet. So basically, most of the vamps from Breaking Dawn will be there. I haven't written it yet though, so feel free to tell me who your favorites are and I'll try to make sure they get some time with Bella!**

 **I can't promise regular updates on any of my stories, because I'm trying to focus on the collaborative story I'm doing with KarleighAnn, but I will do my best not to neglect them completely, and I can promise that all of the stories on my account will eventually be finished. I just may take a little longer getting there, that's all. And I won't be stopping there, either! I still have several stories I haven't even started posting yet. So, stay tuned!**

 **-BMW**


	13. Chapter 13: Meeting Our Allies, Phase 2

**AN: First I would like to thank, sweetsouthernsongbird, teamwolfaltw, decadenceofmysoul, A Guest, ckaren09, A Guest, kelmikmag, casedeputy, kouga's older woman, StaceyC73, and chanur, for reviewing last chapter! Also thanks to those who have favorited or followed this story, and those who are just checking it out!**

 **A reviewer pointed out that the last chapter was boring, and to an extent, I can understand that. These are, for all intents and purposes the 'boring' introductory chapters where not a lot happens yet. This is the last of the preliminary planning chapters and things should start getting a little more exciting after this one. So, I apologize if this is another 'boring' one, but it should hopefully be the last!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **-BMW**

* * *

 **Chapter 13: Meeting Our Allies, Phase 2**

 **Alice's POV**

After spending Saturday at the Pack house, where the wolves all embraced Bella and took to her like they were her brothers and sisters, The Major decided it had gone well enough that we should try introducing her to our vampire allies.

The wolves were instructed to stay back at La Push for the day, because my gift would be needed to know if Bella would be safe with all of the vampires who would be present.

Edward was still staying in Alaska, until such time as Bella was turned, in spite of the fact that the Denalis were now residing in Washington. He took The Major's threats very seriously and wouldn't set foot near her until she was safely immortal. But there were other vampires who merited cause for concern.

Bella's blood smelled incredible to all vampires, not just Edward, for whom she was La Tua Cantante. And while a lot of our guests had taken well to the vegetarian diet at The Major's request, there were some who had not been persuaded. We had a supply of bagged blood from the hospital brought in, but it was being saved for emergency situations. So, those who still hunted humans had been asked to feed in Seattle on Saturday and return satiated on Sunday, in order to safely meet Bella.

The Irish Coven had converted, without much fuss. I told them that the gold eyes of a vegetarian would look stunning with their red hair, and when that wasn't quite enough to push them over, I also had a vision that Maggie and Bella would become good friends and that it would be easier if they didn't want to eat her.

Normally, the vegetarians would actually be more of a danger to Bella, based on diet alone, because animals never fully satisfy a vampire's thirst. But because of the treaty, the closest acceptable human hunting grounds would be Seattle or Portland. That meant that the vegetarians could hunt nearby, as often as they wanted. Meanwhile the human drinkers were having to go longer without feeding, and schedule their hunting trips around The Major's training schedule.

Which is the only reason Peter and Charlotte had converted to our diet. Peter knew, that as Second in Command, The Major couldn't afford to have him as far away as Seattle or Portland to hunt. So, even though he said, deer 'taste like ass', he begrudgingly ate them anyway. And when Char asked him how he knew what ass tasted like, he simply gave her an abrupt no comment.

The Egyptian coven also had no problems converting to vegetarian cuisine. Partly because Amun was so protective of Benjamin because of his gift and he knew that gold eyes would help the boy to blend in better among humans. The other reason was, Amun was one of the oldest living vampires and as such, had occasionally tried eating animals at times when his circumstances had warranted it, so he knew what to expect and advised the rest of his coven that while even carnivores weren't exactly pleasing, they were at least palatable. Deer on the other hand were something he deemed an _acquired_ taste.

Alistair had been converted by the assurance that hunting in the forest was more peaceful than hunting in the city, and Charles and Makena were convinced by the fact that none of the other human drinkers had died as a result of their first time drinking from animals. And Garrett was brought around by Kate's charms.

The Romanians refused, saying that they'd had enough power taken away from them over the years, and did not wish to be weakened any further. And Kachiri, of the South American coven, confused us all by saying that next thing, we would be asking her to eat hamburgers like a hybrid.

Of course, Carlisle, being naturally curious, asked her what a hybrid was, and she spent the next two hours explaining to us about the mad scientist, Joham, and his half-vampire children who ripped their way out of their mothers to enter the world.

I had snuck a peek at The Major, just to see how he was taking the news, and he had later explained that even if it weren't so entirely risky for the mother, there would be no way to acceptably justify bringing a child into a potential war zone. And while I admittedly understood, I couldn't help being a little sad for he and Bella that they wouldn't have that option.

Rosalie on the other hand, had spent the next several hours hounding Carlisle with every question from, would artificial insemination work for human-vampire procreation? To, if vampire semen is viable, could vampire eggs be viable too? And what disease could a human have that would cause them to be terminal with no chance of recovery, but still have them living long enough to carry a baby to term, and not pass on any medical problems to the child?

Needless to say, when the threat of war was over, Rosalie was intent on becoming a mother. In fact, if it had been anyone other than Jasper who needed her help, she probably would have just taken Emmett away to some safe, secluded location right away and made him knock up some poor soul on her deathbed. Some of Rosalie's instincts weren't always humane, and a part of me wondered what kind of a mother she'd even be if she got her wish. But that was another problem for another time.

Once we had all of our ducks in a row and the human drinkers had all returned, fed and happy, it was time to pick up Bella and bring her over to meet all the crazies. On the bright side, from what I had learned of her so far, she would handle this the way she handled everything. With quiet grace and confident determination. She was definitely the perfect mate for The Major.

Even as a human, I was pretty convinced that she could take out a room full of vampires, given enough explosives. And I knew she'd still look beautiful while doing so. Once she was finally turned, there was no doubt in my mind that she'd become the most powerful female vampire on the planet. And I didn't even need my gift to know I was right.

* * *

We arrived back at the house with Bella around lunch time. Esme and Carmen had prepared a lunch for her, hoping that if she had something to focus on like eating, she wouldn't be as nervous. I didn't think they needed to worry at all.

Bella wasn't the nervous type, and she'd already hit it off with Pete and Char. They were the only ones she had been nervous about meeting, and that was merely because of how important they were to The Major. She wanted them to like her, and they did, they adored her.

Both Peter and Emmett had taken to her like flies on a squirrel carcass, Peter's expression of course, not mine. They were like the brothers she'd never had. She'd already won over all of the family, even the immoveable Rose was swayed by her fierce, yet friendly nature.

Now, it was just a matter of convincing the rest of the vampires that she was worth protecting. And, as planned, we had Eleazar's help with that. As we got out of the car and headed to the house, I reminded her of all the things we had talked about. "Now, Bella, remember not to take anything that is said, personally. Vampires have different priorities than humans, and it's those priorities that we want to appeal to." I assured her.

We had talked earlier about the fact that people would be focused on her gift and how it could help them going forward. Eleazar was going to explain her shield to them, knowing that the vampires would all prefer to have a shield in their corner than to ever be standing against one.

And people would be primarily focused on what kind of vampire she would become, placing little value on her current life as a human. We had assured her that that was still a conversation for another day, and that no one was planning to turn her in the near future, and especially not without her consent, but that the other vampires would likely mention it as if it were a foregone conclusion, and that she shouldn't contradict them, and to just take it all in stride.

"I know, Alice. I won't fuck it up. Thanks for all your help." She smiled, taking my hand briefly before we walked inside.

The living room was full of vampires. Everyone was gathered. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to my mate, Miss Isabella Swan. Bella, this is everyone, but I'll be taking you around the room and making personal introductions." The Major smiled.

"It is a pleasure to meet everyone. I apologize, first and foremost for my scent, I am told it is rather appetizing. I appreciate your willingness to meet me, in spite of the fact that I smell like dinner." She smiled.

"It is surprisingly tolerable, Miss Bella." Garrett was the first to comment.

"Yes, I had thought half of us would already be lunging at you, the way the Cullens described your unique presence. But I suppose they had hoped to over prepare us." Makena added.

"You do smell delicious, of course, but I've been subjected to far worse." Kachiri added. "After all, my sister, Senna, was once my singer, and I managed to change her, rather than eat her."

"Might I ask, Carlisle, why you permit the human to speak? It seems she does not know her place, at all." Alistair huffed, not taking nearly as well to Bella as the rest had.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name, Sir?" Bella asked without a moment's hesitation.

"My name is Alistair Cromwell, the third. Not that it is any consequence to you, human."

"I see. Well, Alistair, you know, you remind me of a broadwing, I once owned. She was a golden eagle. I raised her from a fledgling. She was a quiet, ornery thing, prone to nipping. She started off tethered in her mew, it wasn't long before I had her free lofting, and eventually she was trained well enough to be left in the weathering yard, unsupervised and yet, she would not stray. I dare say you could have learned a thing or two from her. She wasn't born with manners, but she definitely learned them at my hand." Bella said, effectively putting _him_ in _his_ place.

" _You_ are an Austringer? I don't believe it!" He shook his head.

"I am, indeed. But I'm awfully old school. I don't go in for car hawking, and I've never raised a Harris hawk, though they're more popular in Arizona where I'm from. I swear by golden eagles and I've raised three over the years. But my point wasn't to discuss falconry, Alistair. I was trying to tell you that you were being rude." She sighed, becoming exasperated with him.

"No, I caught that. But I'd much rather discuss falconry than my manners, Miss Bella. I _too_ was a falconer in my human days." He smiled.

"Well, if you'll kindly cease treating me as _quarry_ , then by all means, we can discuss falconry to your heart's content. _After_ all the introductions have been made, that is." Bella insisted. And The Major, who was grinning ear to ear at the way she had handled herself, continued introducing her around the room.

"Miss Bella, I am told that like myself, you possess a great gift?" Benjamin asked, fixing her with his boyish smile.

"Well, I only know about my gift that which Eleazar has told me, but I get the impression that it could be useful down the line." She stated, diplomatically.

"Humble as well as gifted, Major Whitlock, your mate is a treasure!" Benjamin laughed.

"That she is, Benjamin. That she is."The Major nodded. The rest of the introductions were made, and remarkably, Bella managed to impress everyone, even the Romanians were enthralled with her. We were off to a surprisingly good start. I could only hope it stayed that way.

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 **AN: Okay, so next chapter is when things will start rolling. In the meantime, please review, I'd love to hear your thoughts!**


	14. Chapter 14: Important Decisions, Phase 1

**AN: First a huge thank you to, sweetsouthernsongbird, decadenceofmysoul, teamwolfaltw, acw1, ckaren09, Misticshay24, AHealingRenaissance, KittenEyez, Nissa-Cullen, chanur, and CentauRita, for reviewing last chapter! And thanks muchly to those who favorite, follow or simply read this story, I love you all!**

 **This chapter is a bit longer and we're starting to transition into the good stuff now, so there will be more drama, more action, and more opportunities for feedback going forward! Please review so I know what you think, good or bad!**

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 ***I have to put a warning on this chapter because there is mention of attempted rape. It is a conversation though about something that happened in the past, so no one is actually attacked in this chapter. I just wanted to warn you all in case anyone has triggers surrounding this topic.***

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 **Chapter Fourteen: Important Decisions, Phase 1**

 **Major's POV**

Introducin' Bella to our vampire an' wolf allies had gone more smoothly than I anticipated. She was a trooper, my mate. Able to spit in the face of fear, greet danger with a grin, an' befriend even the most frightenin' creatures of legend. The fact that she had stood, first in a room full o' shifters, an' then in a room full o' vampires, an' not only stood her ground; but even went so far as to put the ornery ones in their place, was impressive.

A few weeks later, an' I was startin' to see why the powers that be had decided to gift her to me, specifically. I may've been one of a very few select people who had the resources, the experience, an' the ability to properly protect her. An' protectin' this valuable jewel, was of great importance to me, personally. So I surely vowed to myself that would.

I could see that my girl had wisdom. It shone out o' her eyes like a light in the darkness. An' there was just somethin' about her. Somethin' primal, somethin' feral, somethin' older even than I was. Almost as if her soul had been walkin' this earth much longer than 'er body. Perhaps since the days when people hunted with spears. Her aura seemed… well, _ancient_.

But there was power written there too. As if she had walked among the greats of the world an' outshined 'em all. As if she could command armies with a wave o' her hand. Bring men to their knees with a single word. Make the whole world to listen and obey. She was _spectacular_. An' she was mine.

When I'd first found out that my mate was human, I anticipated there would be some resistance on her part. Yes, she would likely feel the pull an' be drawn to me, but it was one thing to _feel,_ it was another to _succumb_ to it, yet she had. She had accepted me as her mate, wholeheartedly, in spite of the newness of her circumstances and the strangeness of being thrust head first into the supernatural world.

She wasn't fightin' me _or_ resistin' me, though I knew if she ever did, it'd be one hell of a fight. She was a tigress, and I couldn't wait to find out how much o' her fierceness, would carry o'er into the bedroom. But I didn't wanna rush things on that front. I planned to wait until I knew if she wanted to be changed, before I allowed myself to become physical with her.

The reason was two-fold. I was feelin' the matin' pull pretty hard by that point. There was a possibility that when I joined with her for the first time, physically, the urge to mark her would become overwhelmin'. An I knew I couldn't bite her, until an' unless, she was ready an' willin' for me to initiate her change. The other reason, of course, bein' that if she happened to be a virgin, her first time would be painful. An' since I knew that her change would _also_ be painful, it made sense to do those two things on the same night, rather than her havin' to be in pain twice.

We hadn't had that conversation yet. Well, either o' those conversations, if ya wanna get technical. I knew there was a chance she'd been with other men before, but I preferred to hope that she hadn't. Not out o' jealousy, as such. Though, I would be jealous, yes. But it was more out o' the knowledge that any previous experiences she may have had wouldn't have been with me. Therefore not with her mate, therefore less than perfect, possibly even unpleasant. An' the idea o' anythin' less than perfect, or, God forbid, unpleasant happenin' to her, pained me greatly.

In other words, if it turned out I wasn't to be her first, then I'd have to work mighty hard at erasin' any previous sexual experiences from her mind. But that'd be okay. I wasn't never 'fraid o' a lil' hard work.

At any rate, I meant to be havin' a chat with her real soon to ask her about all that an' about her change. The sooner I turned her, provided she wanted me to, the better. It'd be safer for her to be more sturdy as a vampire, than stay so very fragile as a human. Although as far as humans went, she wasn't all that fragile, mind you. Still… I'd feel better if she were invulnerable.

An' havin' her be already through at least the first few months o' her newborn year before any threat showed up would be even better. Though I doubted we'd have all that much time.

I had Alice watchin' fer Maria's decisions, an' watchin' some others of my ol' enemies as well, the ones that I could put names an' faces to anyway, but in the grand scheme o' things, there wasn't too much comfort in that, an' I still had no idea when trouble would start bangin' down our door. Could be years away, could be tomorrow, could be next month, could be never. All I knew was… we had to be diligent an' we had to be ready.

Which meant that I needed to man up an' have that talk with my lovely mate, as soon as we had some free time to ourselves. Now, I could count on one hand the number o' times in my life up til then that I'd been even the slightest bit nervous. But preparin' to ask my mate if she was a virgin, an' findin' out whether she wanted me to change her or not was definitely one of those times. I was runnin' holes in the carpet tryin' to decide what to say to her an' how to say it.

"Major, if you make a decision of what to say, I can just tell you how she will react to it." Alice offered politely, once my pacin' had finally started to annoy her.

"Alright, you're right. Dunno why I didn't think o' that. Good call, Alice."

So I closed my eyes and pictured how I would tell her. I tried thinkin' of a few different ways to tell her. After a few minutes I opened my eyes.

"No matter what you say, she responds favorably. She isn't offended when you ask her sexual history and she doesn't go running scared when you ask her about the change. I won't tell you her answers to those questions because you should hear them from her, of course, but no matter how you ask them, there is no negative response. I think you ought to just pull her aside and say whatever comes naturally, Major. Now, may I have a little time with my Jazzy before she gets here, please? We could use a quick hunt."

I nodded and thanked her, then allowed my more passive counterpart to take over.

* * *

 **Bella's POV**

I pulled up to headquarters in my white and blue camouflage Jeep. It was a gift from The Major which I only accepted because I was sick of people having to drive me around, and he vetoed the truck my dad wanted to give me, because while Jake had worked on it himself, Rose had only deemed it 'moderately driveable' so he figured it wasn't safe enough. The Jeep was the bare minimum that he would accept in terms of safety and the most I was willing to let him spend on me. A compromise, albeit, but but a decent one.

I think Jake would have been offended if Rose hadn't sat him down and shown him some of the more obscure problems the truck had, all of which, she assured him, without a degree in mechanical engineering, she never would have spotted. After that the two of them had bonded over their shared love of cars and had become the best of buddies. They were even in talks about opening up a joint garage after high school. Emmett had teased that they could call it Beauty and the Beast's Auto Shop, but surprisingly they both actually liked the idea, so the name would likely stick.

I could hear them out in the garage arguing about the merits of different tire manufacturers as I pulled up in the driveway. As always, The Major met me at the car. I kept thinking, I should probably start calling him Jasper soon, since we'd been officially dating for quite a while now, and to most people it would probably seem weird.

But he had stressed to me several times that we were preparing for war. So after my seven years of cadets, it felt a little disrespectful to use his first name when he was basically my commanding officer for all intents and purposes. Besides, he had never specified what I should call him, and most of the vampires and the wolves called him Major. And Alice never called her 'Jazzy' Jasper either. It seemed easier to differentiate between the two this way.

Maybe I would call him Jasper in the bedroom, whenever we eventually got to that point in our relationship. We had done basic teenager stuff, rounding pretty much all of the bases except for home plate. I was pretty sure there was a reason we were waiting. I just hadn't figured out what it was. Not that I had really tried taking us there. I felt ready to take that step, but I didn't really want to be the one to initiate it. He had decades more experience than I did, so I figured when he wanted to go there he would bring it up.

"Darlin'" He smiled, kissing me deeply, as was our typical greeting.

"Hello Major, reporting for duty, Sir." I grinned with a wink. He always seemed to like it when I used my soldier voice.

"Nothin' new to report, as of now. We're still sittin' at Defcon four, for the time bein'. Perimeter runs haven't turned up any threats, so I thought we'd have a lil' time today if you wanted to go fer a walk, perhaps?" He offered, looking like he hoped I'd say yes.

"Lead the way, Major." I nodded, throwing my bag in the Jeep for the time being and taking his proffered hand.

We walked along for about twenty minutes in comfortable silence before he launched into what was on his mind. "I've never felt like it was appropriate to inquire into yer datin' history, but I feel like I oughta ask ya sometime, before things get any more serious, since they seem to be headin' that way," he began quietly.

"Alright. That's fair. To be honest, it isn't pretty. A boy I didn't like, kissed me when I was twelve and I punched him in the nose. Then later that same year, an older boy took interest in me. He used to invite me to his garage to watch his band play. One day when I showed up, the rest of the band wasn't there. He offered me a glass of soda and I took it. I didn't realize right away that it was drugged.

"We were sitting on the couch when he started kissing me. I didn't mind at first, but when I realized he was trying to do more, I told him in no uncertain terms that I did not want to. He wasn't taking no for an answer and about the time the room started spinning, I realized he'd slipped something in my drink. He had me pinned down on the couch but there was a table nearby, it had some of those metal skewers on it, for barbecuing. I stabbed him in the throat and then passed out from the drug in my drink.

"When I came to, I pushed him off of me and I phoned 911. But it was too late, he was already dead. They confirmed that the drug in my system was a date rape drug and deemed that it was self defense. They took me in for questioning but they never pressed charges. And because I was a minor, my records were sealed. Which is why you probably never uncovered any of this in your recon.

"Anyway, rumor spread at my school because his sister told everybody what happened. So after that, boys sort of… kept their distance."

I figured this was the test. If he was for real, then the truth wouldn't scare him off. If he wasn't serious about the whole mates thing, then he'd go running for the hills. I knew I had made the right decision in trusting him when all he did was held me. I had never allowed myself to fully process those events and everyone had always said how brave and mature I was for handling it all so well afterwards. Truth was, I hadn't handled it. I'd simply pushed it out of my mind.

The Major seemed to sense that I needed to let go of it, so he pushed an emotional cocktail at me that consisted of reassurance, sincerity and love. It allowed me to open the floodgates. I cried, silently, for a long time in his arms, sitting there in the forest. And when I ran out of tears and composed myself, I felt something I hadn't felt since that day, in any true measure…

Peace.

We began walking along again, hand in hand and I finally spoke. "So, to answer your question, yes, I am still a virgin. Now, I have one of my own. When are you going to change me?"

He stopped walking and turned to face me. "Do you want me to? Because I would never even _consider_ changing you against your will, Darlin'."

"So, you would what, just live an eternity without your mate then, if I didn't want to be changed? I'm sorry but that's ridiculous. Well, I guess it's a good thing for you then that I _do_ want to be changed, isn't it?" I smiled.

"You do? Fer real?" He grinned, looking like a school boy who'd just been given six scoops of ice cream.

"Of course, where the hell else do you think I'd want to spend my eternity if not by your side?" I stated, like it was a no-brainer, because really, it was.

"Well, I dunno, I mean, I had hoped, but Darlin', there _are_ drawbacks an' downsides. I don't want you thinkin' by any means that eternity as a vampire is all perfect an' wonderful. Sometimes it can be downright awful. Even among a family as lovin' and positive as the Cullens, there are some who curse this existence. Many vampires would actually rather have stayed dead."

He was thoughtful to warn me, but I wasn't going into this blind. "I realize that, Major, yes I do. But part of that comes down to choice. Most of those vampires didn't have any say in the matter and were changed against their will. Learning about vampires while I'm still human has given me a unique perspective and an insight into the way they live.

"The way I see it, here are the downsides. Bloodlust being number one, of course. Because you're either fighting your nature or you're killing people to subsist off of. Well, if there is one thing I've always prided myself on being is disciplined. So if I set out to be a vegetarian, I think I could hack it, but even if I did slip, or decided to live off of humans, it isn't as if I haven't killed before. And the guilt I felt, under the circumstances, well, it's something I've been able to live with.

"I truly believe the world is better off without Dylan in it. But I know there were those who loved him and grieved that loss, in spite of what he did to me, and for their sake, I feel remorseful for it. I know that Pete and Char dined on the Dylan's of the world before moving to Washington, and I have to believe that a lot of lives were saved as a result of their diet, not to mention the innocence of countless women.

"If Dylan had gone on to do to others, what he tried to do to me, how many other women could have been hurt? I'm not saying that justifies murder. But I also think there is a difference between murder and a vampire selectively choosing human prey. I think it's only murder when you kill your own species. Otherwise, it would be murder when we eat a hamburger, would it not?"

I paused, and he laughed and kissed me, then urged me to continue.

"Second reason to retain humanity, would be procreation, perhaps. Well, we now know that there are more options for that, thanks to the Amazonians, i.e. human surrogacy. And motherhood isn't necessarily at the top of my priority list yet, since I'm still fairly young. But there is also adoption, foster care, and siring another vampire is a type of parenthood too, in a way. So really, not a good enough reason to stay human, I don't think.

"Another drawback would be having to cut ties with friends and family. Well, my friends are primarily vampires and wolves now anyway. My mother and step-dad live several states away, so we're already maintaining our relationship at a distance. And as for my dad, I wanted to talk to you about that. I'd like for Charlie to be offered the opportunity to be changed as well. Before you say anything let me explain why.

"My dad is the Chief of Police in an area inhabited by vampires and shapeshifters. His best friends are part of a tribe that contains many shapeshifters. Not only is it not fair for him to be kept in the dark about the supernatural, but it's highly unsafe for him. With the number of shifters on the Rez, there have been all kinds of 'bear sightings' lately, and all it would take is for him to be in the wrong place at the wrong time investigating them to be accidentally hurt or killed.

"And I'm not even taking into account the dangers that will come once our enemies start arriving. So yes, I would like for him to be told and given the choice. Now I do realize that if he chooses not to be changed then we are in violation of Volturi law, yes. But hell, we're making an army. If the Volturi come this way, we're all in serious shit anyway, so what's one more infraction to add to the list?"

Again, The Major chuckles at me.

"Well, Darlin'. Seems you've thought all this through pretty thoroughly now haven'tcha? Who am I to deny my mate what she chooses for her own future? I notice you've intentionally left off the positives to bein' changed. Which tells me that you ain't choosin' this lookin' to get somethin' out of it. An' that's more than most people could say under similar circumstances, I reckon. Alright, I'll let everyone know of your wishes an' your request to tell Charlie. Then we just have to decide on a date for your change."

I breathed a sigh of relief that I had The Major in my corner. I knew he wanted to change me, but I also knew he was willing to sacrifice his own happiness and keep me human, if I were at all uncertain about becoming a vampire. It was important that he understand my reasons and my thought process, so he would see that I wasn't jumping into this for his sake, or at all impulsively.

"Thank you!" I smiled, launching myself back into his arms and hugging him as hard as I could.

"No, thank _you_ , Darlin', for truly wantin' this. It means a lot to me that you want to be with me in every possible way forever. I promise I am goin' ta make it worth yer while, Isabella."

I was practically purring with the way he said my name and thoughts of all that promise held in store.

"Now, let's go tell the family," he suggested, offering his hand to help me up, even though I didn't need it. My mate was a true southern gentleman, of the best kind.

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 **AN: Well, Bella wants to be changed. Who saw that coming? I bet it's a huge relief for our Major! What do you think Charlie will choose? Their conversation with him will appear in the next chapter, among other things! Remember, I love to hear your thoughts!**


	15. Chapter 15: Important Decisions, Phase 2

**AN: Greetings all! Long, long, time no see!**

 **I need to apologize for the tremendously long wait you've had since the last chapter! I know there are no good excuses, so I'll just say that sometimes inspiration and motivation dwindle for a time and distractions abound.**

 **Huge thanks go out to all those who still patiently follow and favourite this story! Hearty thanks to, ckaren09, decadenceofmysoul, kelmikmag, It'sHardIKnow, Booklover345, a Guest, kouga's older woman, sillygabby, Jacqueline, Nissa-Cullen, Chrissiel, marlane, Emilce Cullen-Vulturi, Brookiecookie2002, casedeputy, TheOodWillRise, Amineh1825, Gabbyfromtheblock, Majorxbella, Girlloveshugs, and CentauRita, for reviewing the last chapter I posted, eons ago :D**

 **I am already working on the chapter to follow this one, so you shouldn't have to wait so long this time!**

 **-BMW**

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 **Chapter 15: Important Decisions, Phase 2**

 **Alice's POV**

I was so excited to find out that Bella wanted to be changed. Even though I had seen her making that decision (and kept it to myself so that The Major could hear it straight from Bella), it was a whole other thing to hear about it from her in her own words when she told me.

"Alice," she said, pulling me aside, "May I talk to you for a few minutes please?"

"Of course, Bella, anytime! You know that you can talk to me about anything." I assured her, leading her by the hand into our room where we would have some semblance of privacy. And yes, it was our room. Bella slept in it at night whenever she wasn't at Charlie's, whereas Jazzy and I used the room for other purposes during the day. We had a rule; sleep happened under the covers, sex happened on top of them.

That way we weren't constantly changing the sheets every day. Bella said it was bad for the environment to run the washer so often, so we washed them twice a week instead. (That may still seem like a lot to you, but Jasper and I have a lot of sex. Trust me.) If there is one thing that Bella inherited from her hippy dippy mother, it's her consideration for the environment.

Speaking of sex, Bella and The Major weren't having any yet. And in most ways, that was perfectly fine. But they were getting closer to that point, so a lot of times, it would go like this; Bella and The Major get frisky. Then, for her safety, so that he doesn't accidentally mark her while she's still human and initiate the change, The Major puts the breaks on. Bella heads to the workout room to vent her frustrations on the kick boxing bag. The Major lets Jazz take over from him, and I take over from Bella.

In other words, she gets her man all worked up and then me and my man reap the benefits. Now, you might think that Bella and The Major are getting the short end of that stick, but bear in mind that as soon as she's a newborn, she's going to be a horny ball of sex and bloodlust for the first year and I know my time with Jazz will be minimal as a result. Which is totally fine, but that's why I'm getting my fill in now.

Anyway, I sat down on the bed with Bella so that she could tell me whatever it was she wanted to talk about. I was assuming it was about her decision to be changed, but I couldn't see our conversation because she surprisingly had not made a decision yet about what she was going to say to me. And that made me a bit nervous, since I couldn't prepare.

"Alice, what are we?" She asked abruptly.

 _Now that was not at all what I was expecting._ I had to pause for a moment and think about her question. I knew what she meant, of course, the same thing had been on my mind lately. I just didn't think that was the conversation we were going to be having right then. She wanted to know what _we_ were to each other. As in, she and I.

"What would you like us to be, Bella? The ball is in your court, I'm pretty flexible." I smiled in a way that way meant to be comforting.

"Honest truth?" She asked, looking for permission to speak her mind.

"Yes, Bella. Honest truth, please." I nodded.

"I want us to be more. Of course, that's only if what I've been feeling with you is mutual. If it isn't, feel free to stop me right here and disregard the last five minutes. And, I haven't mentioned any of this to The Major yet - though with his gift, I'm sure he isn't oblivious - but anyway, I suppose it could be a mute point if either of our men are opposed. But I just wanted to talk to you first." She said, looking at her hands. It was the first time I'd ever seen her turn shy and it was extremely sweet.

"Look at me, Bella." I coaxed, tipping her chin up to bring her eyes to mine. "Yes."

"Yes?" She parroted, obviously not sure what I meant by that single syllable.

"Yes. Yes it's mutual. Yes I want us to be more. Yes, it is of course, conditional to the boys' acceptance, though I doubt you need to worry about that. And yes, I'm very glad you decided to talk to me first. Thank you for that." I grinned, happy we finally had our cards on the table.

"Well, alright then. We'll have to sit down with him at some point and figure out how they feel about the possibility, but I'm glad to know where you stand. In the meantime, as you may already know if you've seen it, I've agreed to be changed. And while it's not a requirement, I would strongly like for my father to be changed as well. But I want him to have the choice, so I need to tell him everything.

"I just wanted to let you know before I talk to him, because doing so puts us even higher up on the Volturi's theoretical shit list. Any objections?" She cocked her head adorably, looking for my consent. Presumably because the decision technically affected all of us.

"None whatsoever. But I'd like to be there when you explain it to him. Especially if you're telling him everything, since he might have questions surrounding us and our two Jaspers. Plus I would very much like to be there to support you, Bella." I said, rubbing circles on her hand.

"Thank you, Allie." She smiled.

"Besides," I laughed, "it should be pretty interesting!"

* * *

 **Bella's POV**

We pulled up to my father's house, and I was a little nervous, so The Major sent me some calm, which I appreciated. Normally, Jazz would take over from The Major when we were going somewhere that involved humans. But for this? I wanted _my_ man by my side.

I had told Charlie that I'd be bringing over a couple of my friends and that we had something important to talk to him about. That way he'd be home and prepared (at least to an extent) for a serious discussion.

We walked to the door and I rang the doorbell, which was something I never did, normally. But the occasion seemed to warrant more formality that usual. Aside from Alice and Jasper and I, we had also brought Jacob along because he was going to phase, since that was the easiest, quickest way to effectively demonstrate the supernatural without eliciting a barrage of immediate questions.

"Hi Dad," I smiled casually as he answered the door. I had purposely adopted a relaxed stance, as had the others, hoping to put him at ease.

"Bella." He nodded, looking slightly confused. "Not sure why you kids felt the need to ring the bell, but come on in."

"Thanks, Dad," I smiled as we headed inside.

Jasper and Alice had already met Charlie, since one or both of them usually accompanied me to and from his house and sometimes Alice spent time with me there, since Charlie liked her. We all headed into the living room then and sat down, declining the offer of beverages.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about that is so serious? Are you pregnant?" he asked, much to my surprise.

"Dad! No, I'm still in high school. Even if I were having sex, which I'm not...I would be more careful than that," I assured him.

"Okay, Bella, I was mostly kidding. Mostly," Dad chuckled, though it was clear that he was relieved.

"What I want to talk to you about, is serious because it involves secrets. Secrets that, if disclosed to you, could place you in danger. So you need to be sure of whether you want to know and are willing to shoulder the associated risk," I cautioned pointedly.

"Does this have to do with the tribe? Because you have Jacob with you and I'm not stupid, I know Billy and Harry have been keeping something from me lately. Pretty sure it's something big," he sighed.

"Yeah, Charlie, it is. But if I show you what they have been keeping from you, there is no unseeing it, so do you really want to know?" Jacob asked him.

My dad looked confused, so I decided to elaborate. "Remember that Matrix movie I made you watch? Well, this is equivalent to taking the proverbial red pill. Things around you haven't been what they seem, and what you see next depends on your willingness to venture into the unknown," I clarify, hoping it helps him to grasp the gravity and the flavor of the situation.

"Bella, I am the Chief of Police here in Forks. So if something is affecting our town, I need to know about it. Regardless of what it might be, or the consequences of such knowledge," he assured us. "So please stop dancing around the subject and cut straight to the point."

I laugh and shrug. "Okay, you asked for it. Jake?" I nod, and Jake transforms without any preamble, since we brought extra clothes to replace the ones he would inevitably shred.

In his wolf form, he barely fit in the living room. Due to the close quarters, The Major moved to stand protectively in front of me during the transformation. While Alice did the same for my dad. I knew they had moved into position quickly enough that Charlie would have also figured out _they_ weren't human either.

We were all silent while Jake wagged his tail and lolled his tongue out, and then transformed back to human form. Then, once things (and Jake) were back to normal, my dad turned to him and chuckled.

"You're a...giant doggy?" he confirmed.

Jake laughed. "That's exactly what _I_ said!"

"He's a Shapeshifter, Dad. They just happen to take the form of a wolf. There are other tribes whose protectors shift into other forms, but the Quileute pack can only transform into wolves," I explain.

"And you two?" my dad asked. "I noticed you didn't change into anything, but you move inhumanly fast. Are you...something else?" he inquired of Alice and Jasper.

"Yes we are something else, Charlie," Alice shrugged. "But what we are is forbidden to tell to humans, at least directly. Though, there are enough clues that if you think about our traits, you may be able to piece it together on your own," she suggested.

My dad sighed. "Okay, gimme a sec here...you're pale and cold….rock solid...don't eat anything...inhumanly beautiful...and you kids get to skip school on sunny days. If I didn't know any better I might say you were something like vampires or demons. And considering what I do know about the former feud between the Cullens and the tribe...vampires actually makes sense, since their boys are similar to werewolves," Charlie derived by process of elimination.

The Major smiled."Well Sir, while I can neither confirm nor deny the accuracy of your guess...I will just say that I consider you to be a smart and knowledgeable man. Who seems to have a knack for discoverin' certain things without too much assistance," he replied with a cocky smirk and was obviously pleased that Charlie hadn't needed it spelled out for him.

"Wow. Well, I'll take some time later to process the supernatural stuff, because as a cop, I have to say I have a few pressing questions that take priority first," my dad said, shaking off his shock and taking a moment to gather his thoughts.

"Something drastic must have happened to bring two such different species together peacefully. I remember when your family first moved to town. I was at Billy's when he received the phone call that you first wanted to meet. He looked fit to kill when he slammed that phone down. So, what changed?" Charlie asked The Major.

"Well Sir, we actually have you to thank for their cooperation. It wasn't until we told them our primary objective was to protect Isabella, that they were willing to broker anything more than a tentative peace with us," The Major explained. Of course, that only served to confuse my father further.

"Wait a minute, why was protecting Bella your main goal?" He quizzed, then turned to look at me. "You're not...something supernatural too, are you?"

I smiled reassuringly. "No Sir, not yet. But vampires have something called mates. Similar to the human concept of soulmates. And as it turns out, I have a vampire soulmate," I ventured. "But that's actually the part where things get a bit confusing to explain."

Charlie waited for me to elaborate and it was definitely on me to do so, because in all of Alice's visions, it went better when _I_ told him.

"Okay, so there are actually two Jaspers, Dad. Two souls, living in one body. They take turns being in the proverbial driver's seat. You're used to seeing Jasper Hale, Alice's Jasper. But this?...is Major Jasper Whitlock. _My_ Jasper," I explain, waiting for him to freak out as The Major takes my hand in his.

Charlie looks at us and then at Alice, then back at us. "Oh. I thought the reason he seemed different today was because you were telling me about the supernatural and he decided to stop pretending to be human. But I suppose that wouldn't make much sense, since Alice doesn't seem any different. You're really two different people, Son?" he asked The Major.

"Yes Sir," The Major nodded.

"Huh. So, if Isabella is your mate or whatever it's called, then does that mean you plan on making her into a...vampire?" my dad asked astutely.

"Yes Sir. Isabella has expressed a desire to join me in immortality. And the treaty with the Quileutes has been amended to allow for her transformation. As well as the transformation of others who may be a good fit for our coven or family, as we prefer to call it," The Major informed him.

"Well then I wish to be changed as well," Charlie stated.

"Dad, are you sure? You don't even know the details yet," I cautioned him. I wanted my dad to choose vampirism, but not quite so hastily. I needed him to know all it entailed before making any rash decisions.

"Yes Bella. I'll want to go over all the specifics before my transformation, but my mind is made up. I have dedicated my life to chasing criminals and I don't want to have to stop one day because I'm too old and frail to be a cop anymore. And if you're going to stay young and vibrant, then my growing old would mean that eventually, I couldn't tell people you were my daughter anymore. I'd have to say you were my granddaughter, or great-granddaughter. And that's not something I ever want to lie about. I'm proud to be your father, Sweetheart."

I smile radiantly. "Alright, well if you're certain. I was hoping you _would_ make this decision, but I was worried you might not want to. There are a lot of drawbacks as well as the benefits."

"I realize that. For instance, I know that I won't age, which will eventually mean relocation. But there is police work to be found the world over, and I'm capable of crossing that bridge when I get to it. I also understand that my diet will have to change. But since I already chase criminals anyway, I can simply eat the ones that aren't in the system and stay off the radar that way." he shrugged.

The Major laughed heartily at that point. "While I'm with you on that method of huntin', the Cullens are actually what we vampires call vegetarians. They only drink animal blood, not people. I used ta hunt humans before I joined their family, but nowadays I let the other Jasper take over at feedin' time and he hunts animals.

"It has it's strategic advantages. For instance, the Quileute treaty prevents huntin' humans anywhere in the Olympic Peninsula. So animals are the most convenient food source without havin' to go to Seattle or another major city. Also, vampires who drink human blood have red eyes, which makes blendin' into society more difficult. Colored contacts are possible to acquire, but the venom in our systems dissolve them rather quickly, so they have to be replaced regularly, and if you get caught without them, the jig is up," The Major explained.

"Oh. Well, I have always been more of a carnivore and can't say I really go in for all that rabbit food. So I guess I would probably have to play the diet thing by ear. And considering you obviously move faster than human speeds, Seattle probably isn't as far away as it sounds for a vampire," my dad reasoned. "Are there differences in the effects of each diet?"

"Yes." The Major told him, honestly. "Drinking human blood makes us stronger and faster and helps us to use our powers to their maximum ability."

I already knew all of this, because The Major had explained it all to me. I had asked him why he chose to follow the Cullen diet, and he had told me how the emotions of a dying human affected his empathic gift. Then I had asked how he managed to survive so many years dining on humans during his time in Maria's army. He informed me that it was easier during war, because he could project the emotions of his food onto his enemies and cause them to suffer. But that peacetime came with far too much solitude and contemplation for it not to be emotionally taxing.

I understood because in cadets we learned all about PTSD and how it commonly affected soldiers after war.

"Well then, I'll have to weigh the pros and cons more once I am actually changed. In the meantime, when can Bella and I undergo our transformation?"

"As soon as you both feel you are ready to," The Major informed us.

"I'm ready now," I tell him. The Major had already made sure I have every human experience I wanted. There really wasn't a lot I could do as a human that I couldn't do as a vampire, except eat. And Esme had been cooking me authentic foods from all over the world so that I wouldn't feel I had missed out on any of them. Over the past several weeks I had already tried more culinary delights than I ever cared to. Food was never as much of a hot button for me as it was for some. And I was pretty sure that since I planned on eating an animal diet as a vampire, I would still get to experience different flavors even after my transformation, so I wasn't worried.

Strategically, it made more sense to change me and Charlie sooner and hopefully have our volatile early newborn stage out of the way before any serious threats arose.

"I'm basically ready now too," Charlie nodded. "Though, I would like the chance to go over the specifics first, so I know what to expect."

"That's fine, I will happily brief you on everythin' you need to know, includin' our current state of alert and precautions," The Major agreed.

Alice clapped her hands excitedly and told me we needed to go shopping for something I could wear for my change. Apparently nothing out of my wardrobe was comfortable enough to wear during the change. Which I was surprised about because Alice usually shunned comfortable clothing. But she promised I would thank her for it later, so we headed off to shop while The Major briefed my dad on becoming a vampire.

* * *

 **AN: Hopefully it was worth the wait? Lemme know your feedback by pressing the review button!**

 **Next chapter, Bella and Charlie become vampires!**

 **-Blessings, BMW**


	16. Ch 16: Transition & Adjustment, Phase 1

**AN: First off, HUGE thanks to all who are still reading this story! I couldn't believe how many people hung on through the lengthy hiatus! You're all so amazing and it's because of all of you that I continue to write this story :D**

 **Extra special thanks to all who have followed and favourited and to, kouga's older woman, Ginger Skellington Archer, Moondancer1818, TheOodWillRise, marlane, sweetsouthernsongbird, kelmikmag, Kags419, ckaren09, CentauRita, Babysis64, and Blistful2006, for reviewing Chapter 15!**

 **And now...Bella and Charlie's change! Also a disclaimer: *This chapter contains some lemony goodness, as well as a bit of femslash* so be sure to look away if you don't like the sexy times!**

* * *

 **Chapter 16: Transition and Adjustment, Phase 1**

 **Bella's POV**

The days leading up to my change were incredible. We got to do so many cool things. The Major was intent on making my last human memories exactly that...memorable. And because I would no longer need to sleep, every night he took out his guitar and sang to me until I drifted off, knowing that was one of the few things we wouldn't get to do anymore.

We were planning to wait on my dad's change, until we saw what I would be like as a newborn. If it turned out I was a handful, we would wait a while longer to change Charlie once my control was better. The family felt it would be easier to keep _me_ from killing Charlie, than it would be to keep the both of us from killing the whole town, which made sense.

Now what my dad didn't know and didn't need to know was that with _my_ change, would come another first for me. The experience of getting to have sex for the first time. The Major and I had been waiting ever so patiently, because he didn't want me to experience pain on more than one occasion. So the night of my transformation would also end up being the night I swiped my V Card with The Major.

And boy was I looking forward to it. After countless nights spent stopping right before the point of no return, we would finally get to cross that threshold. The only thing that really made me nervous was that he had a century and a half of experience, and I had none. But he assured me that with the way I could move my body, I would be great at it. I figured he was just being nice, but I appreciated the confidence boost anyway.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, it was time. When I had said all of my goodbyes to our extended vampire family, my dad, and all the wolves, because I wouldn't be seeing any of them for three days, and there was no guarantee I'd come through alright, I headed upstairs to mine and Alice's room.

Alice and I had gotten cozier during the time since our talk. It turned out, neither of our Jaspers minded if she and I wanted to be physical with one another. We hadn't done anything too drastic, but there had been plenty of kissing and occasionally some heavy petting.

For the lead up to my transformation, Alice had drawn me a bath and was going to wash my hair and keep me company, while The Major got the room ready. I knew he wanted it to be special for me, so I let him make all the romantic preparations his heart desired. Meanwhile, Alice and I were left alone to enjoy our girl time.

"Your hair is so beautiful," she said wistfully, as I stepped into the bath. I knew that Alice loved long hair. She told me every time she played with mine, which was quite often. "You're going to be such an exquisitely gorgeous immortal," she sighed as I lowered myself into the water. "I can't wait until you aren't so breakable," she smirked biting her lip. I was pretty sure I knew what she was picturing.

"Me neither," I grinned. "Then you can have your wicked way with me."

"Oh please, Bella. My way isn't so _very_ wicked," Alice giggled, as she began working on my hair. "Besides, if I remember correctly, _you_ were the one who seduced _me_."

"Okay, I confess, I'm guilty!" I laughed putting my hands up in surrender. "But it isn't _my_ fault you're so dang desirable," I complained.

Alice kissed my cheek, and whispered, "You're so sweet, Bella. I love you."

It was the first time she had said that, and I couldn't help but wonder if it was partly the uncertainty of my change hanging over us that caused her to say it so soon.

The Major and I had been saying those three words to each other from practically the beginning. Of course, no one knew that because it was something we only ever said in private. We were both of the mentality that if you tell the world how much someone means to you, then your enemies can use that information against you. Our family and friends knew though. They could see it in our interactions.

But that was The Major, and we were mates. A given. Certainty rang through every moment of our relationship. Whereas Alice and I? That was very new and it was a choice and we had no more guarantee of the future than an ordinary human couple would.

It made sense of course. For Alice and I to be together. We would always share proximity anyway, because our mates shared a single body. So why not get some sensual enjoyment out of that proximity? Besides...who could help falling for Alice? She was sweet, kind, fiercely loyal, and capable of putting up with all my shit. That's why it was a no brainer when I smiled, kissed her properly, and said, "I love you, Alice."

She beamed as brightly as a morning sunrise and then without anymore preamble, finished washing my hair. After that, I let her wash other parts of me. And we spent the next hour getting me one hundred percent physically ready for my change. Thankfully I had already gone in for waxing the day before. Because there were just some places a girl doesn't want to wear hair for all of eternity.

Before we headed back to the bedroom to present me to The Major, I wrapped Alice in a hug. I'm not a very huggy person, usually, but I am when the occasion warrants it. "Thank you, Alice. For everything."

Alice smiled and kissed me. "You're welcome, Bella. Thank _you_ , for coming into our lives, and for choosing forever."

"I wouldn't want it any other way," I nodded, and opened the door to the bedroom.

* * *

The Major was already lying sprawled out on the bed, reading a book when I walked in. But as soon as he saw me, the book was long forgotten. Alice had dressed me, quite literally, and with much pausing to kiss me all over, in a white teddy complete with garter belt, and thigh high camouflage pantyhose. There was also a little soldier's cap, sitting atop my ornately braided tresses.

I stood at attention. He looked like he was doing his level best not to rip the garments from my body and ravage me right there. But he maintained his decorum, and came slowly over to me, like a panther stalking its prey. Then he walked around me in a slow circle, pretending to inspect me the way an officer would, looking for flaws. I stayed stock still, waiting for his assessment.

"Very nice, Private Swan, very nice indeed," he smirked, nodding his approval.

"Thank you, Sir," I blushed slightly under the scrutiny.

And then, in an instant, there was no space between us. I was in his arms and he was kissing me. Everything else melted away and there was only he and I. As if our hearts and souls had been waiting a lifetime for this moment. Perhaps several lifetimes. We weren't _becoming_ one, we _already_ _were_ one. This was just the act of our physical bodies catching up to our spiritual selves which were already united.

"Isabella, I love you so much," The Major moaned between kisses, once our clothing was on the floor. He pressed himself at my entrance and thankfully, for once, we didn't have to stop there.

I did not flinch as he thrust himself inside of me. The small amount of pain was necessary. And not entirely unpleasant. It sort of, hurt in a good way. His eyes were usually black and fathomless, but now they also spoke of two unrelenting hungers. One that was being currently sated. The other, always present, the desire for blood.

The Major had told me before, that because I was his mate, my blood did not normally tempt him. At least not to the degree of other people's blood. But when it was spilled, it would drive him. To protect me from danger, but also...it would give him the urge to bite me, to mark me as his for all eternity.

An urge I could tell he was fighting now. But I knew he wouldn't change me until after I had succumb to pleasure for him, one last time as a human. So I focused on his rough but careful thrusts and his powerful, strong hands touching me, and I looked into his eyes. The combination of our physical coupling and the union of our souls was more than enough to have me careening over the edge into bliss.

I expected him to follow after me, but instead, he returned my gaze and smiled one last time and then bit through the flesh of my chest, right over my heart as he drove into me, filling me with his venom. When the burning started, I thought it would be the worst thing I had ever experienced. And I was right. In the physical sense, it was _awful_. Horrendous, beyond words.

But he held my gaze, the whole time. Pumping me full of calming emotions. He couldn't take the pain away, but he could give me other, more positive things to focus on.

He filled me with his love, and with a serene sense of peace. He even fed back to me the pleasure we had just experienced. Over and over again, he calmed and centered me, and brought me to bliss.

I don't think that while he was doing this, he was consciously aware of the associations he was creating in my brain. But the time during the change, is the first set of memories that isn't fuzzy for a vampire. And without meaning to, he essentially spent that time rewiring my pleasure centers, creating an association in my mind between pain, and ecstasy.

By the time my heart raced to a standstill, and my new red eyes flew open...there was only one thought on my mind. And it _wasn't_ blood.

* * *

 **The Major's POV**

Perhaps I shouldn'ta been surprised, when the first thing Isabella did as a newborn, was throw me through an exterior wall into the backyard, and fly through the air landin' skillfully on top of me. And maybe I also shouldn'ta been surprised when she ripped my jeans and t-shirt right offa me, and impaled herself on my length.

But I think the thing that surprised me most, was that after the crash o' our landin', when all the family came out to see what the matter was, she. didn't. stop.

She did however, roll us over so that I was on top, and look me in the eyes with her beautiful burgundy colored ones and even the words outta her mouth surprised me then. "Do _not_ hold back, Jasper."

I would have liked to revel in the fact that she had called me by my Christian name, for the first time ever. Probably because, for the first time ever, we were equal in every way. But there weren't time for a victory party. She was gazin' at me with a deep, pressin', need in her eyes, and I wouldn't be a man worthy o' her, until I satisfied that need.

"Yes Ma'am," I nodded, drivin' into her without any o' my former restraint or caution. It wasn't necessary. Her body was physically stronger than mine now. If anyone was gonna break from our vigorous love makin', it woulda been me. But I'm made of some pretty tough brass too, so the only thing we managed to break were the surroundin' trees. Four of which we felled completely, however unintentionally.

After we finished, I helped Isabella to her feet, not that she needed the help but my Mama raised a gentleman. By that time, most o' the family had gone about their own business, scatterin' (primarily in couples, because I mighta been projectin' a bit). Alice, however, was sittin' there, reclinin' on a lawn lounger an' looked like she woulda been workin' on a suntan, if any sun could break through the densely wooded foliage of the estate, an' if vampires could even get tans in the first place.

"There anythin' we can do for ya, Pixie?" I asked, mildly irritated that she hadn't left to give us privacy.

"Oh please, Major," she huffed. "It isn't anything I haven't seen before, from a much closer perspective. I'm simply waiting patiently for my turn, that's all."

"Oh, is _that_ all? Well I'm not gonna be ready to bring Jazz back for quite some time, which you should know already because we talked about this, not to mention you can see the future," I frowned.

Much to my surprise, the little pixie laughed then. "Silly Major, I didn't mean my turn with _that_ body," she pointed at me, walkin' toward us. "I meant, my turn with _this_ body," she clarified, wrappin' her arms around Bella from behind and gropin' her tits.

Bella spun right around to face her, and kissed the lil' Pixie hard on the mouth. I woulda been offended, but she backed up into me and pulled my arms around her too. "Share nicely, Jasper. Please," she whispered.

So, I did what any clear venomed male would do at that point. I growled low in her ear, then I bit into her mating mark, hard, pumpin' my venom into her to remind her whose mate she actually was. Then I kissed and groped her, while Alice got down on her knees and did things to Bella I hadn't seen one girl do to another in a very, very, long time.

Alice and I never touched. Just as I wouldn't want Jazz to even _think_ about touchin' Bella if the shoes were reversed. But I definitely learned that I was indeed capable of sharin' Bella with Alice. So long as both girls remembered that at the end o' the day, Bella was my mate and as such, our relationship transcended anythin' else she might have goin' on. But the girls understood that and were very respectful of our mating bond, so I had nothin' to complain about.

When we went back inside, Alice went off to go help Esme make food for the wolves, and Bella and I got dressed to go huntin'. It took her about an hour to get the hang of puttin' clothes on unassisted, an' probably woulda taken her much longer if she wasn't already so graceful thanks to years of Capoeira trainin'.

Once she was dressed, I asked her where she wanted to go for dinner. Alice had informed us durin' Bella's change that her control would be exceptional, so I was tryin' my best ta keep the discussion of feedin' casual, while fightin' my impulse ta get her fed ASAP, like was usually done with newborns.

"Well, I do want to try human eventually, but animals are more convenient right now, and I want my eyes to turn topaz like the rest of the family. But Major, are you even going to be able to show me how to hunt animals? I thought you usually left the hunting up to Jazz…" she questioned.

"I know _how_ to do it, I just don't like the taste," I assured her. "But we're not huntin' fer my dinner. Alice'll take Jazz out later to hunt. For now, we're just grabbin' dinner fer you."

"Oh, okay, well then let's go, because I'm starved!" she laughed, takin' off at a run.

I thought the way she moved as a human was impressive. But seein' her move like that...with the added strength an' speed of vampirism? Was almost otherworldly.

By the time we caught up to a family o' elk, she was poised to leap an' take down the daddy elk, without any assistance or advice from me. Watchin' her drain him was a thing of beauty. She looked into my eyes while she fed, an' when she finished, she was far less of a mess than any other newborn I had ever seen. With just a couple thin streaks of blood runnin' from her mouth, down her neck, she was sexy an' ferral an' all _mine_. A fact I took full advantage of as we downed a few more trees.

When we were walkin' back to the house, hand in hand, she asked me, "so, how did I do on my first hunt?"

I looked into her gorgeous, dark red peepers and told her, without a shadow of a doubt, "Darlin' you were exceptional. An' with control like that, I don't think we need to wait to turn Charlie. I think we can tell yer father that he can be changed whenever he's ready."

She looked like she could barely contain her excitement. "Race ya back to the house then, Major!"

* * *

"So...my control is exceptional, but yet I can't turn my own father?" she looked puzzled. We were sittin' in the livin' room at HQ with Charlie, workin' out the details of his upcomin' transformation.

"It isn't that you _can't_ , Bella. If you really wanted to, you could. I have faith in you. I know you wouldn't eat him. But the thing is, sirin' a vampire, is a little like becomin' that vampire's parent. It would change the dynamic of yer relationship with Charlie, and I don't think you want that," I shrugged, tryin' ta help her understand.

"But _you_ sired _me_. So, are you saying your my daddy now?" she teased me. I couldn't help but feel slightly aroused at the remark...until I realized, her father? Looked like he wanted to bleach his brain.

I sobered up right quick then and said, "I'm sayin' I think you should let Carlisle change him. As of right now, there is no venom link between the Whitlocks and the Cullens, just a familial affection and a strong allegiance. As my mate and someone I sired, you're a Whitlock. Charlie is your blood. If Carlisle sires him...our covens will be linked in a way that is much more permanent than they currently are. I'm lookin' at this strategically, Darlin'," I reason.

"Oh. Well why didn't you just say so? Dad, Carlisle is going to administer your change then," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Alright Bella, that's fine with me." Charlie nodded and I headed off to tell Carlisle. I'd have to remember for future reference that all I had to do to get Bella to agree with me, was explain my tactical reasonin'.

* * *

That evenin', three days after Bella's awakening, Carlisle bit Charlie. After that, I decided to get Bella outta the house because she hated hearin' Charlie suffer. She tried insistin' she should stay by his side, but I assured her there was nothin' she could do for him. So we went on an extended huntin' trip, after I confirmed that we'd be back in time for his awakenin'.

We did in fact arrive back at the house in time for Bella to see her father's first moments as a vampire. And much to our pleasant surprise, when Charlie awoke, his control seemed much better than we had worried it might be, based on Alice's visions. Mind you, we kept him far away from humans as a precaution. But after a week o' him successfully feedin' on animals with no incidents, we decided he was reAN:ady for a visit from his best friend, Billy.

Jake, Sam and Quil brought Billy out to the Cullen HQ property. Jake had already been by to see Bella a few times, but it was the first time since her transformation that the others had come. Everyone was completely relieved when Charlie greeted Billy with a hug and didn't lunge for him. It was reassuring that we were able to let our guard down somewhat and let them have a nice visit.

And of course, because she wouldn't be Esme if she didn't, Mama Cullen, as the pack had taken to calling her, had a huge spread of food for the three wolves and lone human to enjoy. They were all grateful and judgin' by how much they all wolfed down, no pun intended, the food must have been pretty fantastic.

None of us had time to realize what was happenin' until we were pryin' Charlie offa Billy and restrainin' him from lungin' again, but by then it was too late to stop it. I guess Billy must have bit his cheek or his tongue or somethin' while he was eatin' and that tiny bit of blood was enough to send Charlie, who was sitting right beside him, lungin' for his neck.

When Billy started screamin' and clutchin' his neck in pain, Jake looked to us for answers. "Is he…?"

"Changin'? Becomin' a vampire? Maybe, but he has Quileute blood. Carlisle, any idea how their genes might react to the change of vampirism?" I asked, slightly worried for Billy.

"No. There is no precedent for this, to my knowledge. I guess we will just have to wait and hope for the best," he sighed runnin' his hands through his hair.

 _Dammit, an' everythin' was goin' so well!_

* * *

 **AN: Betcha weren't expecting that last surprise! Sometimes my characters insist on doing things that aren't part of my initial plan. Such was the case with Charlie biting Billy, as well as the Bella/Alice tugboat. So, I'd really love to hear your feedback!** _  
_

 **Next chapter, we will find out if Billy pulls through or not. And a character we haven't really seen much of yet is gonna make an appearance too!**

 **Thanks for reading! Remember I love reviews!**

 **-BMW**


	17. Ch 17: Transition & Adjustment, Phase 2

**AN: As always, a huge thanks to everyone who reads, favourites and follows this story!**

 **Special thanks to the reviewers for Chapter 16! TheOodWillRise, ckaren09, Kagz419, teamwolfaltw, kouga's older woman, shessys mate, ForrestersWitch, jeoliverio, and CentauRita! You're all amazing and I'm so glad so many people are enjoying this story!**

 **Without further ado, I give you, Chapter 17!**

* * *

 **Chapter 17: Transition and Adjustment, Phase 2**

 **Bella's POV**

We were all so worried over the next three days. Not just for Billy and whether he'd come through it or not, but also for my dad if he didn't.

By day two, Charlie had already cleared an entire field in the east forest in his anger and self-recrimination. Thankfully, he wasn't demolishing the trees, just knocking them over. Esme said we would use the wood to make beautiful furniture. Esme was an optimist.

I had never seen my dad lash out in anger. He always kept his emotions private. The Major assured me that this was typical behavior for a newborn vampire, and that _I_ was the anomaly here, not my dad. In fact, he said, most newborns would get this emo over something like, not being able to dress themselves properly or being told they can't eat a stadium full of humans. Apparently the fact that my dad actually had something valid to be upset about, was good, because at least his anger made sense.

As I watched him continue felling trees from a distance, I heard footsteps. They weren't Jasper's, but they were familiar to me, though I couldn't place them. When he walked up behind me, he stood closer than one would expect.

"You must be Isabella," he said with a smile in his voice.

"You must be Edward," I returned, without turning around. _After all, he's the only vampire who could have gotten past The Major's perimeter, whom I have yet to meet._

"Excellent reasoning," he said. "Though if I _were_ an enemy, I could have gotten through,"

 _Right, a mind reader! Crap! Which means he knows I'm just standing here, trying to figure out where I know him from. Well great._

"You can't possibly know me from anywhere. I'd remember meeting someone so astoundingly beautiful," he said, answering the question in my mind, even though I hadn't actually asked it.

"Okay, that's going to get annoying really fast," I said spinning around to face him. Even his visage looked familiar. Not like in the way that when I met The Major, I felt I had known him forever. No, this wasn't an abstract thing. It was like, a memory. Fuzzy, and not fulling coming to me.

"Besides," he said, his voice shaking me from my thoughts. "the only Isabella I've ever known, died before you were born, and she was...different than you are. More impulsive, less controlled, more rebellious and much more...blonde," he laughed.

I rolled my eyes and tried not to think about how self-absorbed he sounded. "What I was going to say before I was so rudely interrupted is, if I don't ask a question out loud... _don't_ answer it. It is bad enough that being around a mind reader leaves no possibility of privacy, but at least, if you don't voice my thoughts, I'll have the _illusion_ of privacy."

"Feisty," he chuckled, making a motion like tiger claws and swiping at the air with a little Simba-like _rawr_. I have to admit, it made me laugh.

"In all seriousness though. I know you don't have a way to turn _off_ your mind reading ability, but you don't have to always be _tuned into_ it either. Like I'm sure when you're out in public, at school or somewhere with a lot of people, you have to tune out a lot of the thoughts or you'd just go crazy. So, why not apply the same principal in a one on one conversation? You can tune them out partially, and file them away in case they're needed for later.

"Like if I were to think, right now, that my favorite color was green, it wouldn't be all that helpful to you to say 'so, your favorite color is green?' because it isn't that important and interrupts the flow of conversation. But, if you filed that info away for later instead, and I had a birthday coming up in a few months, you could use that information to buy me something green. Such as a green 550 paracord bracelet, and I would love it," I explained, then abruptly realized how that sounded.

"Not that I am by any means insinuating that you need to buy me anything for my birthday, and obviously, I don't need a 550 paracord bracelet, because I already have one," I clarified, showing him my wrist. "My best friend in cadets made it for me one year, after I told her my favorite color was green, which is why I used that example. But I love it and I never take it off, because you just never know when you're going to need 8 feet of military grade paracord, right?" I smiled and he smirked at me with this cocky half smile thing. For some reason it made me laugh.

And that, is how The Major found us. Smiling and laughing over some inside joke I wasn't even sure _I_ was in on. So I guess it shouldn't have been any surprise then, when The Major picked him up by his shirt and hurled him into the wood pile, full force.

Edward looked like he was about to get up, when I rushed to The Major's side. "Stay down," I ordered him, "It's safer for you in the woodpile at the moment."

I turned to look The Major in the eyes, and I knew in that moment that most people looking into his eyes the way they were now, would see a monster. But a monster isn't what _I_ saw. I saw a fierce warrior, hellbent on protecting his woman. And it didn't scare me, one bit. Instead it actually served to arouse me.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and looked into his eyes. "He didn't touch me, Major. And he wasn't going to. I'm yours. _Your_ mate."

I didn't know _how_ I knew that was what he needed to hear, but it was. He calmed down immediately and helped Edward out of the woodpile. "Sorry Man, I saw the two of you all cozy like and I guess I thought you were makin' a pass at her."

"Well, I'll admit I was mildly flirting. But I understand that Isabella is your mate, Major. I would never try to undermine that," Edward assured him. For a moment I thought he was gonna get chucked back in the woodpile for saying he was flirting, but I guess The Major appreciated his honesty and decided to let it slide, at least for now.

Which is good, because my dad came back from destroying trees at that moment and walked up to us, oblivious of the altercation that had just happened. "How's Billy?" he asked.

"The same," The Major answered, since he had just come from the house. "Carlisle says it's progressin' like a normal change and based on what I've seen, and the emotions he's projectin', I'd have to agree. Edward, was anythin' different about Billy's thoughts than what you've heard from a transitionin' newborn before?"

"No. He seems to be experiencing the burn to a similar degree as in a normal transformation. Hopefully that means he'll be fine," Edward replied calmly.

"Good," Charlie nodded. "I'm gonna go sit with him and give Jake a break. That boy needs to go eat something."

"Alright. And _we_ should grab Alice and go for a hunt," I suggested to The Major.

We had started going into the forest the three of us, and I would hunt with Alice, then she and I would have sex while Jazz took over from The Major and he would hunt for himself. Then Jazz and Alice would have sex. Then The Major would take over and accompany me while I hunted again, needing more nourishment as a newborn than they did, and then The Major and I would have sex. It seemed to be a system that worked, so we were sticking to it.

I could tell by the look on Edward's face then, that he had seen those thoughts in our minds. He shook his head and turned toward the house. "I'll send Alice out. Nice meeting you, Isabella," he said with a backward wave while walking away.

"You too," I nodded politely. _Though I still think I know you from somewhere._

* * *

 **Alice's POV**

We were hunting in the forest after Edward had introduced himself to Bella. I had seen The Major throwing him through the woodpile, of course, but not with enough time to really do anything about it. And Bella proved, with the way she handled it, that she truly is the perfect mate for The Major. Most girls would have done the wrong thing in that situation, but Bella instinctively knew what to do.

I was in awe of her. Especially as I watched her take down a bobcat while I drained the deer I caught. She was such a graceful hunter, unlike the sloppy approach of most newborns, Bella was poise and control and efficiency. And oh how I loved to watch her hunt.

When she finished with her prey, her eyes snapped to mine and I knew in that moment. _I_ was her next prey. She stalked over to me, never taking her eyes from mine. Thankfully I had stashed clothing for our entire family throughout the forest, because Bella wasn't even remotely careful of mine when she pounced and ripped them off of me. I couldn't help but squeal, watching the buttons pop off of my designer blouse.

"I'm sorry, Alice. I know you cherish your clothing. But _I_ happen to cherish your _body_. And I can't do that when it's hidden by layers of labels, no matter how designer they might be," she apologized before descending on me with kissing lips and caressing hands. I couldn't really argue with that, so instead I returned the favor, divesting her of her own garments. I couldn't bring myself to rip them, of course. But I did throw them and tried not to get twitchy about the fact they were now lying on the forest floor.

Then, I allowed Bella to distract me from my OCD compulsions and get caught up in her instead. As she kissed a path down my body, I gazed into her crimson eyes, which had gone so dark with desire, they more resembled a fathomless black in that moment.

"Alice," she pleaded, "let me fuck you."

I smiled, thinking how cute it was that she still felt the need to ask permission every time, even though we had been having sex almost every day, and sometimes twice.

I nodded emphatically, biting my lip painfully. "Please Bella, I want you to."

And with those magic words, I felt her long, skillful fingers penetrate me as her mouth joined in to evoke sounds I didn't even know I could make. Don't get me wrong, Jazz has definitely always rocked my world, and the sex we have is amazing. It's just that there is also something very taboo and thrilling about receiving pleasure from a woman, who is not my mate. Being with Bella, made me feel like a naughty vixen in need of a good spanking.

As such, it wasn't very long before her talented ministrations had me flying over the cliffs of climax, clutching my hands desperately in her hair, as she milked every available drop of nectar from my throbbing center. And all I wanted next was to return the favor.

Which is why it was such a crying shame when my eyes glazed over. Not in post-coital bliss, but with a vision that meant we could not continue our tryst right then. "Bella, as amazing as that was, and believe me...it was _amazing_ , we have to get back to the house. I don't know how, considering it's only been two days, but Billy is awake!" I moaned unhappily at having to cut our time short.

"That's okay, Alice, we can continue this later," she assured me and turning to look at a spot in the trees nearby, she addressed Jasper. "You caught that, right?"

He usually watched our encounters from a nearby vantage point, after he hunted quickly for himself. Jazz stayed in control for the first part and The Major took over at the end so that he could take Bella hunting again after she and I finished. However, this time, there would be no second hunt for Bella, or sex for The Major, as duty beckoned us back to the house, where we would find out exactly what Billy's transformation had wrought.

The Major nodded in reply and took one of her hands as I held the other and we ran back, stopping only to dress in fresh clothing at the forest's edge.

* * *

When we arrived back at the house, we were greeted by the strangest sight. Billy was perched on the roof, and his eyes were all white. Charlie and Jake were sitting with him, trying to convince him to hunt. The conversation that followed was rather confusing.

"Dad, you need to hunt," Jake insisted.

"I am," Billy stated.

"Billy, you're a vampire now, you need blood to live," Charlie tried.

"I know, that's why I just took down a deer. I'm bringing it back right now, don't worry," Billy claimed.

Jake looked like he was about to protest, when a coyote limped into the yard, hauling a small deer behind it. The coyote dropped the deer beside the house, Billy's eyes went back to a normal newborn red, and he leapt from the roof and began draining the deer.

"I told you I was hunting," he laughed as we all looked on attempting to figure out what had just happened.

"Billy, are you sayin' _you were_ the coyote?" The Major deduced.

"Only once I spotted the deer. Before that, I was the hawk, scouting it. I don't know why I can do that, or even _how_ I can do that. All I know is, as soon as I woke and realized I was thirsty, my mind seemed to meld with that of the hawk, and I flew into the forest, searching until I found the deer. Then I switched my mind from merging with the hawk, into the nearest predator to take down the deer. Although, I may want to rethink that method next time, because apparently it is a little tricky for a coyote to take down a deer. It gave me a solid kick in the process," Billy explained, wincing at the memory.

"So, is that his vampire gift then?" Charlie asked, "he can join his mind with an animal for a time?"

"I reckon it must be," The Major nodded slowly. "Which is a very handy gift indeed."

I could see the wheels turning, as The Major considered the strategic implications of such an ability. Even _I_ could tell that he would be excited about one of our allies having a gift that allowed an area to be scouted without any enemies ever knowing they were being watched.

"I don't think I only get one," Billy said, his brow furrowed in thought.

"One vampire gift? Well, I never heard o' anyone gettin' _more_ than one, but I suppose we can double check with Eleazar and find out," The Major offered.

So, we tracked Eleazar down next to ask him what Billy's gift was. He had already informed us that Bella was a mental shield, and Charlie was a physical one. And they had begun working on their gifts here and there. whenever we had time.

But when we brought BIlly to him...Eleazar nearly fell over. "Well, technically, Billy's 'vampire gift' is that he isn't _just_ a vampire," he ventured. "The best way I can explain it, is this. In order to become supernatural, you already have to _be_ supernatural. All humans have the capacity for magic. We are, historically, a magical race.

"That's why in Biblical times, for example, Jesus' disciples were also able to work miracles to a lesser extent. It's the same principle as how some people are clairvoyant or have some success with attempting witchcraft, or can communicate with the dead, etc. We all have magic buried deep within us. Aboriginal cultures tend to have a greater grasp of that fact, and as such, their magic is stronger. The magic that created the Quileutes ability to shapeshift, started as a solution to a need for protection. The same as with other shapeshifting tribes. In other words, it was created to be a defensive type of magic.

"Vampirism, is the opposite. Vampires are an apex predator. Our magic was created to be offensive in nature. Billy having the Quileute bloodline, already has a strong, defensive magic inherent to his system. Vampirism has given him an equally strong offensive magic, therefore restoring the balance. His magic is now whole or complete. It is also largely unspecified. His powers will manifest in the areas he chooses to focus himself.

"If he wants to be a jack-of-all-trades, he can choose to dabble in various types of magic and will likely gain at least a slight proficiency at whatever he tries. Whereas, if he wants to master one particular talent, he needs to place all his proverbial eggs in one basket," Eleazar clarified for us.

"So what you're sayin' is, Billy has untapped potential?" The Major confirmed.

"No, I am saying we _all_ have untapped potential, but that Billy has gained access to the tools for tapping his potential. Whereas most of us would flounder a _very_ long time attempting to do so. The reason most of the Volturi guard have very well developed gifts, is because they are old and have spent a long time honing those gifts. Billy just has the means to choose what his gifts will be, that's all. He will still have to hone and practice them like the rest of us," he answered.

"So, are you sayin' that anyone could develop more than one gift if they worked at it?" The Major pondered.

"Not without possessing a strong defensive offset to the inherently offensive magic of vampirism," Eleazar corrected. "For example, if another human entering vampirism was of a bloodline with a strong defensive magic, they would manifest unspecified power similar to Billy's. Or, if a human had themselves studied and practiced defensive magic, they could enter into vampirism with enough of their own defensive magic to tip the scales. But such instances are rare.

"Jane and Alec of the Volturi guard, possessed strong magic as humans. And as humans, they used that magic defensively. But the first gifts they manifested as vampires, Aro had them trained in quickly, assuming those to be their only gifts. So they are masters of those particular gifts and their gifts are very powerful. Aro doesn't know that they too have the potential to learn other gifts. I thought it prudent not to tell him, and since the only time he ever insisted on shaking my hand was upon my arrival in Volterra, and I had not yet met them at that time, that information was never known to him," he concluded.

"So, what you're sayin' is that Billy could be as powerful as them one day, but in whatever areas he chooses to focus on?" The Major confirmed.

"Essentially, yes, Major," Eleazar nodded.

The Major, Bella, Jake and Charlie, all beamed at this revelation. But Billy looked worried. That was a lot of power for one person, and for a man who didn't even like to use the title of chief during the time he technically was one...Billy was obviously not a person who craved power.

"Well…" Charlie cut in, changing the subject. "Let's talk about the fact that you can walk, now Old Man."

Billy laughed and seemed to visibly relax. "Actually, I can _run_. And I'd bet your ass a case of beer that I can outrun you!"

The two men took off and before any of the vampires could offer to tail them, Jake told us the wolves would keep an eye on them. Then he shifted and took off after them. Before they were out of earshot, I could hear Charlie and Billy arguing about whether or not, as vampires, they could still drink beer.

* * *

 **AN: So Edward is back now and Billy is a vampire, well, sort of. At this point he's basically a warg, but he'll be picking up some other talents along the way as well. In the meantime, love to hear your feedback!**

 **Next chapter, we finally get to go to Seattle and make some new vampires! Are you excited? I know I am!**

 **-Blessings, BMW**


	18. Ch 18: Recruiting in Seattle, Phase

**AN: Huge thanks to all reader, followers, favouriters and the reviewers for the last chapter:**

 **Lovetoread1859, acw1, Kagz419, TheOodWillRise, alklucio, kouga's older woman, Ginger Skellington Archer, and ForrestersWitch, you're all amazing and essential to motivating my lazy butt to continue this!**

 **Before we get started, a quick clarification in regards to Chapter 17:**

I was impressed that several people asked about the Edward/Bella mind reading thing. I did debate heavily before adding this departure from canon. Some of the reasons I decided to let Edward into Bella's mind are:

Canon Bella had no other forms of protection, so her shield started off in the 'always on' position. Once she was a vampire, she had to learn to turn it off. My Bella has already learned through different life experiences than in canon, how to protect herself. So there's no need for her shield to be 'always on'. Now that she's a vampire, she's going to have to learn how to turn it on to use it.

If you've ever watched or participated in Capoeira, there is a sort of centeredness that comes from it. Because of her Capoeira training, my Bella knows herself better than canon Bella, and because of her military-esque training, she knows when to be on alert and when to stand at ease, so to speak. In other words, Edward posed no threat, she knew she was surrounded by her protective vampire family and that she herself was physically stronger than him as a newborn, with better training. Therefore she had no need to throw her shield up at that time.

Also, I just plain like the snarky banter between them that comes from her being irritated at the invasion of privacy, lol. It makes for more of a brother-sister type bond, which is what I ultimately want them to develop.

Hope that helps explain this decision and any confusion surrounding it. Thanks to all of you for your comments!

* * *

 **Chapter 18: Recruiting in Seattle, Phase 1**

 **Jazz's POV**

After things with Billy had settled down, and Charlie had developed better control, we knew it was time to move on with the next phase of our plans. It was time to begin recruiting new members for our family, in Seattle. After careful consideration, The Major decided that I ought to be dominant for the first stage of our trip.

The group going to Seattle would consist of myself, Alice, Bella, Charlie in case we ran into any trouble with local law enforcement, Peter, Edward and Eleazar. Most of whom were chosen because their gifts would lend well to the search.

The plan was to begin by meeting Carlisle at the hospice he had purchased in Seattle. He had been working there on and off over the past several months, to get a feel for the patients. Who was who, what their physical conditions were, a sense of their general character, their prognosis, even their beliefs on the afterlife, etc. This was important, because Carlisle and Edward had both come into this life with strict beliefs that caused them to believe for a long time that they were damned.

We didn't want to have to spend a whole lot of time dealing with anyone's existential crises. Likewise on the other hand, we didn't want people who believed in nothing, whom we would have to spend a bunch of time convincing about the supernatural either.

We were basically looking for open-minded folks on the brink of death, who were interested in cheating the grim reaper, even if the price was vampirism. We wanted people who were survivors, who spent time fighting, trying to beat the odds. Ultimately there were a lot of criteria, but first we had to meet the patients and determine who the best candidates were.

When we arrived at the Serene Days of Peace Hospice, the first thing we did was meet up with Carlisle in the staff lounge. He gave us each a clipboard, stethoscope, and lab coat, and coached us on the protocol for medical students. We were expected to listen and observe and not speak directly to the patients when any of the other staff were around.

The first place he took us, was the AIDS wing. We stepped into a room that already seemed promising when it came to my gift, at least. You'd think in a place where everyone was dying, the vibe would be emotional melancholy. But in the first patient room we entered, that was not the case.

The emotional climate of the room was an optimistic peace, with a little determination thrown in and of all things, joy and love. Which made sense, because the two patients in the room were watching a sitcom when we entered, and seemed to be enjoying it very much. I noticed they were also holding hands.

"Everest Kent, Darcy Costard, these are the medical students I was telling you about," Carlisle introduced. "Everest and Darcy are two of my best patients," he continued.

"He just likes us because he got to play matchmaker," Darcy laughed. "Dr. Cullen restructured this entire place when he bought it, so that people would have roomates with similar illnesses whenever possible. It's how Everest and I met. Before that, my roommate was a crotchety old lady with intestinal cancer."

"Yes and mine was a middle aged man who kept telling me I was going to hell," Everest added. Then he made a point of kissing Darcy before he spoke again. "And now, instead of being stuck with those two, we have each other."

Carlisle smiled at the two men. "We have to go look in on some other patients, but would it be alright if I brought my students by again a bit later for a quick Q and A?"

"Sure Doc," Darcy nodded, "anything for Doctor Cupid!"

Once we were out in the hallway, Carlisle asked us all what we thought of them. "Their emotional climate was great," I reported.

Eleazar spoke next. "They would definitely be gifted. Everest has the making of a gift slightly similar to Benjamin's, but where Benjamin can physically affect the elements around him...Everest will be able to conjure them. If Benjamin wanted to make a fire, he would have to either move one from nearby, or use a match like the rest of us. Whereas Everest would be able to produce fire, as well as the other elements, once he learned how.

"Darcy would be a tracker. But the way his gift would work, he'd actually be tracking a person's unique magic. So the downside being, he couldn't track things or even animals. Tracking ordinary humans would be possible, but would take him much longer even than Alistair. Tracking vampires, shapeshifters, etc. would take less effort and less time. And tracking the most powerful of vampires and other supernaturals? Well, he probably would just know where they are at all times," Eleazar shrugged.

Those both sounded like gifts worth having on our side. Everyone turned to Edward next, to find out his opinion. "Their minds are interesting. However I think I need another chance to listen to Everest, especially. Perhaps when we go back in, we can engage him in conversation. I'd like to see how he responds to things."

Then all eyes turned to Alice who was just coming out of a vision and abruptly burst into giggles. "Oh Edward! You want to see how he _responds_ to things? Everest is _Edward's mate_!"

 _Mic drop_.

I couldn't help but think as everyone went speechless. Edward sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "I'll be outside," he frowned, "text me before you go back into that room," and with that, he headed out the nearest exit doors, looking concerned and confused.

"Well, we will have to turn him now, we can't very well leave him human, knowing that he's Edward's mate and that he's dying," I state, saying what everyone else is thinking.

"But what about Darcy? Not only does his gift sound really helpful, but he and Everest are truly in love. And knowing Edward as I do, it could be decades before he ever comes to terms with having a male mate. I propose we turn them both and trust that Darcy will find his own mate later on," Carlisle suggested.

"Alice, Peter, do either of you foresee any serious problems with that idea?" I asked. They both assured me that turning both men would work out fine.

"Alright, then. That makes two of our spots potentially filled," I stated. "Let's keep meeting more patients and try to find a few other prospects."

* * *

After several hours, we had yet to find even one other prospect that was anywhere near as compatible as the first two we met. I had initially thought maybe Carlisle was starting the tour with the patients he thought to be the most likely candidates and that we would be done quite quickly.

It turned out that in the interest of leaving no stone unturned, he was simply doing a geographic run-through of the place. Which meant that we still had to sift through a lot of silt and pebbles on our quest for gold. We agreed after several hours of searching, to head back to the Seattle house we had rented, and come back the next morning to start fresh. So after checking in briefly with Everest and Darcy, who answered all of our questions better than we could have hoped, we did just that.

We got back to the hospice at 9, the following morning, and headed to the cancer wing. Carlisle took us into a few rooms that proved to be dead ends, and we were continuing to go in order, when I picked up a much brighter emotional climate from the last room in the hallway. "Edward, see if you can get any thoughts from that room at the end of the hall."

When he did he lit up like a Christmas tree. "For someone so close to death, she seems awfully optimistic. And I think she's watching a vampire movie," he laughed.

"Can we go there first Carlisle? We can double back if need be, but I think we could all use some positivity right now," I suggested.

"Sure thing, Jasper," he agreed, taking us into the room at the end of the hallway.

"Good morning, Mandy. Mandy Smith, these are my students that I have been telling you about. This is Eleazar, Edward, Alice, Jasper, Bella, Charlie and Peter," he said, introducing us in the order we were standing.

"Oh cool, are they all aliens like you, Carlisle?" I don't know whether I was more surprised that she thought we were aliens, or that she was on a first name basis with Carlisle.

Then I heard a snicker to my left. "You're watching a vampire movie, and your first supernatural guess is _aliens_?" It was Charlie who spoke. Bella elbowed him, since he technically wasn't supposed to speak to humans about what we were. But technically, we weren't supposed to be in Seattle recruiting for our coven either, and I for one wanted to see how this played out.

"Well yeah, Mr. Sexy Pants. I ruled out vampires already because Carlisle doesn't have fangs. None of you do. And you're out during the daytime," she said, raising her eyebrow at him in challenge.

Surprisingly, Charlie sat down on the bed beside her. "What is it that you like about vampires?" he asked, gesturing to the TV. I'm pretty sure he wasn't consciously aware of the fact that he was also holding her hand.

"They live forever. I wish I could live forever. I know I'll go somewhere after I die, but even if it's somewhere great, I don't want to leave, I want to stay here," she confessed.

"Why, what do you have that's holding you here?" he asked.

"My son, Baker. I know if I became a vampire, or something like that, that I wouldn't be able to raise him myself. But I _could_ at least provide for him. Get a job somewhere and send money home to help with his care. My mom will be raising him when I die, so I know he's in good hands. But she doesn't have a lot of money. I'm so scared for his future," she said, brushing a tear from her eye.

"Screw the damn protocol!" Charlie huffed and before anyone realized, he was biting her.

 _Dammit, Charlie! Not again!_

* * *

 **Bella's POV**

My dad just bit someone...again. But unlike with Billy, when we thought he was trying to eat him, we saw this for what it was. He wanted to change her.

"Jasper, can you hit her with enough lethargy to keep her from screaming for a few minutes? If you can, I'll pronounce her dead, and wheel her out on a gurney. Thankfully, this being a hospice, there is never any medical examiner or autopsy. And lucky for us, Mandy's family live out of state, so no one here will have any desire to see the body. She is not a qualified organ donor, and has asked to be cremated, so all we need to do is acquire some ashes and everything should be fine. She had pancreatic cancer which goes quite suddenly, so no one will think it odd," Carlisle explained, getting into motion. Jasper knocked Mandy unconscious, and the rest of us worked to execute the plan.

Charlie wouldn't leave Mandy's side the entire time. At first I thought he just felt guilty for turning her so abruptly, but when I saw the way everyone else was looking at the two of them, as we got Mandy out of the hospital, it was clear they knew something I didn't. "Are they…?" I asked Jazz.

"Mates, yes," he nodded. Charlie spun around to look at us then.

"Don't be ridiculous, she's _sixteen_ , she's younger than Bella. I am _not_ one of those creepy old perverts you know!" he huffed. "I just know what it's like to want the best for your child, that's all. And with us in her life, we can make sure her son, Baker, is well cared for. Just trying to do the right thing here, ya don't have to make it all weird."

I stifled a laugh. His denial was adorable. I'd have to take some time later to process the fact that I was going to have a stepmom who was eternally younger than I was. In the meantime, we had to get Mandy back to the house and make sure she was okay.

While we were setting her up at the Seattle house, Carlisle took Eleazer back to the hospice and he went through the hallways, putting stickers on the doors of anyone who would be gifted as a vampire. Once Eleazar was finished and headed back to the house, he and Peter were tasked with watching over Charlie and Mandy through her change. The rest of us were tasked with continuing our mission at the hospice.

It was close to dinner time in the evening, when Jasper finally picked up another positive emotional signature. It was coming from a girl with an inoperable brain tumor. We went into the room and Carlisle made the introductions.

"Folks, I'd like you to meet Kelsey Brandon. Kelsey here is one of my best patients. And she's very tuned into the spiritual realm, what is it you always call me, Kelsey?" he asked gently.

"An old soul. Dr. Cullen is an old soul." She looked around at each of us then. "You're all old souls. Some much older than others. This one has _two_ souls." She pointed to Jasper.

"That's right, Kelsey, very good," Carlisle nodded. "Kelsey, what do you think about death?"

Kelsey winced. "I don't want to have to be born again as a baby. Being born hurts. Then you have to go through the whole process of being little and helpless and then it takes so long to get all your memories back and know how to do things for yourself again. And then whenever I meet new people, I always have to go through the process of remembering where I've known them from. Sometimes those memories aren't pleasant. I just wish I could continue living the same life and be surrounded by the same people, so that I wasn't having to constantly re meet everyone in each lifetime. It's frankly a pain," she huffed.

"All the staff think she is this way because of the tumor, but really, Kelsey just has a very special gift. Her memories are accurate, I can assure you. Remember when we lived briefly in Paris during the seventies?" he asked Jazz and Alice. "There was a nurse who I worked with there, named Roxanne. That was Kelsey. She truly has lived before, and unlike most of us, she actually remembers her past lifetimes," he explained.

"So she knows you're a…?" Alice asked.

"Vampire? Yes. I think you probably all are. But don't worry, your secret is safe with me. I know what it's like to have a secret and be persecuted for it," Kelsey assured us.

"Thank you, Kelsey. We'll come back to visit again tomorrow. For now you should get some rest," Carlisle said, and we all left the room.

Next we agreed to call it a day and head back to the Seattle house to discuss things. As soon as we got through the doors, Alice addressed the group. "I'd like to see Kelsey join our family. I'm not sure if it's the past life thing or what it is, but I feel a strong connection to her. I really don't want to see her suffer and die."

Everyone agreed that Kelsey was a good candidate, and so far we seemed to be drawn to certain people for specific reasons. We'd managed to find Edward's mate, as well as my dad's. Obviously that wasn't the kind of connection between Alice and Kelsey. Clearly there was _some_ _type_ of connection though, and it deserved to be explored.

So, the following morning, on day two of Mandy's change, we went back to the hospice to give Everest, Darcy and Kelsey the news. We hoped they would be receptive and Alice said she didn't see any problems.

We knocked on Everest and Darcy's door first. "Hello boys, just us again," Carlisle told them.

"Well, if it isn't Dr. Cupid and his entourage of sexy med students! To what do we owe the pleasure?" Everest asked.

"Well, they actually came here for very different reasons than we let on yesterday," Carlisle explained. "These aren't really medical students. They are my family. Before we explain, I need to know, boys...if there was a miracle cure, but taking it would mean never seeing your families again and living drastically different lives than you have to this point, would you take it?"

Everest looked at Darcy. Darcy looked at Everest. Then they both looked back at Carlisle. "Yes," they stated in unison. "Living is living. Our families are losing us either way," Everest added.

"And if it meant you could never grow old and would be frozen in time, the way you are now, minus the physical ailments. You'd be restored to full health, but you'd have to subsist of of blood, either animal or human. You'd be essentially immortal. And _we_ would be your family. Would you still choose it?" he clarified.

Darcy frowned. "Are you fucking with us, Dr. Cupid?"

But Carlisle went on. "You would be cold and hard like stone. You would possess a supernatural beauty. You would be inhumanly strong _and_ inhumanly fast. And you would sparkle like a disco ball in the sunlight."

As he said _strong_ , Jasper crushed a brick. As he said _fast_ , I sped around the room, and as he said _sparkle_ , Alice opened the blinds enough to make her arm glitter. And then, we watched, as the two men realized that no, we certainly weren't fucking with them.

"Holy shit!" Everest said excitedly. "I don't know about you Darce, but I'm in!"

Darcy looked worried. He seemed like if it was just him, he might have said no. But seeing the way he looked at Everest, it was clear, he would have followed him anywhere. Poor Edward was going to have his work cut out for him. "I'm in too," Darcy nodded slowly.

"Good," Carlisle agreed. "We'll make the arrangements. We just have one more patient to see and then we'll be back."

And then, we headed to Kelsey's room. As we walked inside she started having a seizure. Jazz held Alice protectively as she wrung her hands waiting for it to be over, while Carlisle monitored her vitals. Once it was finished, Kelsey looked expectantly at Carlisle. "Tell me I made the cut."

Carlisle's brow furrowed. "The cut for what, Kelsey?"

"I know you're looking for new vampires. There's no other reason you'd risk bringing your whole family in here and potentially blowing your cover, just to talk to terminally ill patients. Just tell me, Doc, did I make the cut?" she asked anxiously.

"If you want to be changed, we would love to have you, Kelsey," Alice said, taking her by the hand.

"I do. I don't want to keep forgetting things and having seizures and headaches and then die, only to be reborn again somewhere else with a new set of challenges. I want to live. Even if it means being a vampire," she explained.

"Then live you shall. We'll be back for you as soon as we have your cover story in place," Carlisle nodded.

And so, as soon as Mandy's change was complete, Carlisle bit Darcy, and Edward, much to everyone's surprise, offered to bite Everest. Apparently they really were mates, even if he wasn't ready to _fully_ acknowledge that fact.

Once their change was complete, Jasper bit Kelsey, because Alice wanted her to be a Whitlock. And once Kelsey was a vampire, it was clear why. Her gift, newly enhanced by the magic of vampirism, allowed her to see everyone's past life memories, not just her own. But it also allowed her to see Alice's human memories.

"You're a Brandon, like me," she said in awe, "you were born Mary Alice Brandon, in Biloxi, Mississippi, in 1901. Your sister, Cynthia, was my nan's mother. You're my great, great aunt. My nan, Cordelia, still lives in Biloxi. My mother, Crystal, moved us away when I started having medical problems. Seattle has a better medical system," she explained.

"We're related?" Alice asked. "But how can you know that? I have no memories from my human life."

"Your soul does, you just can't access them. You went through a lot as a human. None of it very good," she frowned.

"Oh. Well, in that case, maybe you can tell me later. For now, I want to know all about you," Alice smiled. "Let me take you hunting and we can talk?" she offered.

"Sure, sounds good!" Kelsey agreed. And off they went, happy as clams.

* * *

Once all four of the newborns had been changed, had hunted, and had gotten settled in at the Seattle house, it was time for a family meeting. "Kelsey, Mandy, Everest, Darcy, welcome to the family. Our immediate family is made up of the Cullen and Whitlock covens. Eleazar represents the Denali coven, our cousins from Alaska. You'll meet the rest of our extended family when we get back to the Forks area. But first, we still have a bit of recruiting to do.

"We set forth to find and create at least six new vampires. The hospice, yielded us the four of you. But after touring the entirety of the hospice, none of the other patients were an ideal fit. So, since we don't happen to own another hospice, what we'd like to do instead, is find people who already have an interest in the supernatural and would willingly choose it, but who don't have family to miss them. Does anyone have any ideas?" Carlisle asked.

Surprisingly, both girls said at the same time, "The Haven," then they laughed and Mandy elaborated,"The Haven is like a goth nightclub, but for youth. No one over twenty-one is allowed in, probably because they don't want them bringing any booze in. You have to be fourteen to get in, so there's no kids allowed either. It's just for teens and young adults. There's plenty of vampire wannabes and because there's no cover charge, a lot of street kids go there too. It doubles as a sort of youth group/outreach as well, because they serve free food, and give kids a safe place to party."

"Yes." Kelsey agreed. "I used to like going there because no one looked at me funny when I told them about my past lives, or sometimes even about their own."

"Yeah, it's a really non-judgy place. I went there when I was still an outpatient and having chemo, because it was the only place I didn't have to feel weird about losing my hair," Mandy confirmed.

"Cool, so those of us who can pass for under twenty-one and have fake IDs to that effect, will go check it out," Jazz confirmed.

"Does that mean, now that we're done at the hospice, I get my man back?" I asked excitedly.

"Yes Bella, I think it's time I said goodbye to everyone for now," Jazz agreed. And after one last kiss with Alice, he retreated to the confines of their shared headspace and allowed my Major to take over. As soon as I saw he was back, I flung myself into his arms.

 _It's about time!_

* * *

 **AN: Really curious to hear what everyone thinks of the new family members, as well as any guesses to what Mandy's gift might be. It'll be a few chapters before that gets revealed, since she was changed before Eleazar could tell them, and with so many newborns around they'll be too busy to ask! :D**

 **Now that Edward has a mate, maybe we won't have to worry about him hitting on Bella anymore...or will we? I guess we'll find out!**

 **Be sure to hit reply! I love to have your feedback ;-***

 **-BMW**


	19. Ch 19: Recruiting in Seattle, Phase 2

**AN: Many thanks to all my readers, followers, favouriters, and reviewers, Ginger Skellington Archer, CentauRita, kouga's older woman, TheOodWillRise, deadliestdistractionRN, FaithAnne95, The Original Miss Darling, and jeoliverio, for reviewing Chapter 18!**

 **Here is Chapter 19! (Oh, and someone asked how old the newborns were, so I worked that info into the chapter for you!)**

 **-Hugs! BMW**

* * *

 **Chapter 19: Recruiting in Seattle, Phase 2**

 **Bella's POV**

"You look fine, Alice. Stop fussing," I laughed, kissing her as she stood fretting in the bedroom mirror.

"But Bella, you shredded my designer jeans, and not for sexy times! You actually want me to wear these out in public," she frowned.

"Yeah well, I didn't have time to order you anything from Hot Topic, so we just have to make do." At least she wasn't complaining about the metal band T-shirt I was making her wear, so that was something.

"Fine, but _everyone_ better be dressed like this, because if I stick out in a bad way, I'm gonna be grumpy!" she warned.

Just then, the bathroom door opened. The Major emerged, looking amazing! He was wearing black pinstripe pants and black combat boots, with a t-shirt that said 'All sunshine and fucking rainbows' on it. We found it at a thrift store. He had even let me put a black, temporary rinse in his hair. The whole look was sexy as fuck. "Yes please, I want me some of that," I salivated, licking my lips. After we checked the clock to determine that we did in fact have time for a quickie, we sent Alice off to make sure everyone else was almost ready to go.

Carlisle and Eleazar were staying home and would watch Charlie and Mandy. Those three men were too old to pass for under twenty-one, and Mandy had been to The Haven several times already anyway, so she opted to stay home with her mate. That left The Major, Alice, Peter and Edward, attending the club with the rest of the newborns present. Myself, Everest, Darcy and Kelsey. The Major tried to say that I didn't count, because my control was impeccable, but at the end of the day, I was still a newborn.

I went through a goth phase as a teenager, and while I had gotten rid of most of my clothes from that time, I had kept a black and red corset dress, some fishnets, studded stilettos and a leather collar. All of which I had donned for the occasion. The Major thought it would be fun to leave my outfit on while he fucked me. Unfortunately, he ended up projecting, badly and the rest of the house paid the price.

Charlie and Mandy probably wouldn't have consumated their mating bond for a long time if it wasn't for that. Instead...they had sex in the kitchen. Everest and Darcy had sex on one of the living room sofas. Everyone else was used to Jasper projecting, and had gone outside to avoid any inappropriate hookups. But I felt really bad about Mandy and my dad. Especially because they were still going at it when we came downstairs and we could see them, which was entirely awkward.

They were, ahem, just finishing, when they realized they had an audience. "Oh shit! Sorry kids, I dunno what came over us there," Charlie apologized as they got redressed.

"It's our fault, actually. Sometimes Jasper's empathic gift causes him to...project. The Major and I inadvertently started the frenzy, so we should be the ones to apologize," I confessed.

"That's okay Bella, it was actually really helpful," Mandy assured me. "Your dad was a little reluctant about us being together because of my age. The added lust in the air was just the push he needed," she laughed. My dad turned fifty shades of red.

"Mandy, I don't think Bella wants to hear about our...activities," he mumbled.

"Whatever Dad, don't worry too much. I mean, if you'd never engaged in _any_...activities, I never would have been born. And I'm glad you've found someone more compatible for you than Mom was. It's about time you were happy in love," I conceded.

"Thank you, Bella," my dad smiled.

"Don't mention it. Literally. As in we don't need to mention it," I laughed.

"Point taken," he nodded and went off somewhere with Mandy, probably to do more of the same.

"So, not to pick apart the plan here, but if we're looking for gifted vampires, how will we know if they are, if Eleazar can't come with us?" Everest asked.

"That's an excellent question, Everest," The Major nodded his approval. "That's one of the ways in which Pete comes in. Peter's gift, though he swears it isn't actually a gift, gives him a sort of extra sensory intuition. He should get a general feelin' about whether someone is a good candidate but not know specifically why."

"Oh, so kind of like, how I can almost always tell when someone likes boys, but not specifically _which_ boys they like?" Everest confirmed.

"Sure," The Major laughed. "Kinda like that."

"Cool!" Everest agreed.

"Not to put a rush on things, but I really detest these clothing, and the sooner we get to the club, the sooner I can get out of them, so are we able to get going soon?" Alice pleaded.

"You had me at getting you out of your clothes sooner," I winked. "Let's roll, people!" I announced, grabbing my leather jacket and heading out the door.

* * *

We had been mingling at The Haven for two hours, before we found anyone worth pursuing. The first group we chatted with, were wealthy, popular kids who frequented the place because it was trendy and rebellious. Not only would they all have families who would miss them, but their attitudes were mostly shallow and superficial.

Then, we found a group of LARPers, dressed in steampunk attire who swore we were in Victorian England and used the worst fake British accents. We couldn't get them to break character for even a moment. We all agreed they weren't a match either.

Next we found two sisters who were very... _close_. And though The Major and Peter insisted we at least _talk_ to the incestuous lesbians, it turned out that one of them was extremely snobby and the other was extremely whiny, so we ruled them out due primarily to their glaring personality flaws.

After that, we met our first set of vampire wannabes, but they were the kind who thought they already were vampires. They had those expensive, realistic looking fake fangs and were drinking what I'm pretty sure was a cross between tomato, cranberry and beet juices. I saw it on the menu, it was called TCB negative. We didn't figure they'd be very open minded. Seemed like their minds were already made up.

Then we met our first group of street kids. But those ones were clearly only there for the free food and drinks and they thought the whole vampire thing was stupid. Most of them were homeless by choice as well. Runaways with families who were looking for them. It was actually really sad.

We were starting to think the whole visit to The Haven was a dead end and proving to be pointless. But when one of us suggested going home, Peter said, "I think we oughta stay a while longer. They might not be here yet."

Before we could ask who 'they' were, we saw them walk in through the front door. The boy was wearing a long black duster, a plain black t-shirt, black belt and shoes and black jeans. His nails were painted black, and his brown hair fell around his neck and hung in his face, through which it was easy to see, he was clearly wearing guyliner.

The girl was wearing a black, lace mini dress, fringed at the bottom and cut straight at the neckline with a black sash and flower at the waist. They were both pale, but her black lipstick and eye makeup emphasized the fact, not to mention her hair was white blonde.

They strolled up to the 'bar' and ordered what was clearly their usual. Then he pulled her out onto the dance floor, where she reluctantly gyrated along with the boy and the rest of the masses. It was then that I realized, The Major and Edward were freaking out. "I. Can't. Read. Anyone's. Minds." Edward whispered frantically.

"And I can't feel any emotions. Which means one o' those two, has to be a Nul. I've heard of Nuls before, but I thought they were a myth. The Volturi has been tryin' to get their hands on a Nul for as long as they've been in power. They haven't yet, which is why I assumed they didn't exist. A Nul, can negate the gifts of others. We _have_ _to_ get those two on our side before the Volturi gets wind of what we're doin'. If _they_ get a hold of 'em, none of our gifts will matter and we'll be at a _huge_ disadvantage," The Major explained.

"Well then, let me do the talking," Kelsey suggested. "I've known a lot of kids like them."

"Alright, just don't eat 'em," The Major agreed, as we headed onto the dance floor and spread out, forming a perimeter, leaving Kelsey with the two kids at the center.

"Hi," we heard her say. "I'm Kelsey. I haven't been here in a long time. What's good on the menu nowadays?" she asked casually.

The boy replied without smiling. "I'm Jack. This is my sister, Jill. I like the Severed Fingers, they're like mozza sticks, but with dough instead of breading. Jill always gets the Mummy Wraps. They're basically just chicken wraps cut into little wheels. Ask for dijon if you get those, they're better with dijon. I like your contacts," he said, in reference to her red eyes. Thankfully, she didn't bat an eyelash at the name thing, they'd probably gotten that a lot.

"Thanks, they were free," she told them.

Jill frowned. "Free contacts? What's the catch?"

"I have to eat a special diet and be closely monitored," Kelsey clarified. _Smart girl._ She wasn't lying, but she was making it sound like something entirely different, for now at least. I could see why, these kids were somewhat skittish and skeptical.

Jack nodded. "So it's like a clinical trial or something? Do they pay you?"

She pulled out her cellphone which had a cardholder case and showed him the Whitlock black card The Major gave her. "Yeah, they actually pay really well. And they're looking for more people, want me to see if I can get you an interview?" she suggested casually.

Both Jack and his sister tried to look neutral, but there was genuine excitement in their eyes. These kids probably had nothing, or next to nothing, based on closer inspection of their attire.

"Yeah, if it's no trouble that'd be great," he nodded, trying to sound cool and collected.

"No trouble at all. But I should go call them now if you want in. The spots are filling up fast," she said, and stopped dancing. "I'll let you know whether I can get you a meeting with them," she smiled, dialinv Carlisle's phone as she walked off the dance floor pretending to search for somewhere quieter to talk.

"I knew she'd be an asset!" Alice practically squealed, clapping her hands.

About fifteen minutes later, Kelsey headed back onto the dance floor and found Jack and Jill again. "Okay, so you're cleared to apply. If you want, you can come back to my house when my friends and I leave tonight. I can help you fill out the application online. My friends sort of brought me here to celebrate tonight, I only recently got accepted myself. They've all been involved longer than I have, so they can probably answer any questions you have better than I can. Want me to call them over?" she asked.

"Just one or two at a time please? Jill doesn't do well meeting strangers," Jack recommended.

"Okay, I'll grab the guy who brought me into the program and you can meet him first then," she nodded, and came over to grab The Major.

"Jack, Jill, this is Jasper. He's sort of a senior member of the program," she explained.

"Jeez Kels, ya make me sound old," he laughed.

"You _are_ old Jasper," she teased. And their casual banter served to set the kids at ease.

"Maybe, but I look damn fine for my age," he smirked.

Aaaaaand that was my cue to make my way over to them. "You certainly do, Babe," I agreed, kissing him.

"Jack, Jill, this is Bella, she's Jasper's mate, I mean, girlfriend," she covered. I waited to see if they would notice that I had responded to a comment that should have been out of my earshot.

"Nice to meet you," they both said in turn.

I decided to drop a few more little hints. "You too," I nodded, shaking their hands in turn. They both seemed to notice my cold temperature, but didn't say anything.

"So...can you guys tell us a little bit more about the program?" Jill asked cautiously.

The Major nodded. "Sure, so you take a type of medication for three days that flushes your system and to be honest, it hurts like a bitch. But then you get the red colored eyes first, like Bella and Kelsey have, and you wear 'em at all times while you're awake. You follow the special diet, and one of the main side effects of it is enhanced athletic performance. After you've been on the diet for several months, you get the topaz eyes like the rest of us have. There are other health benefits to the diet as well, but that's all laid out in the fine print," he elaborates. One thing I love about my Major, he's damned quick at thinking on his feet.

"You keep saying eyes, not contacts," Jack pointed out.

"You're the ones who called them contacts," The Major corrects. "The diet actually changes your eye color on a cellular level. Once you start it, your eyes will never go back to their original color. You'll always be able to choose between the red and the topaz, depending which diet you want follow, the strict one or the more lenient one. But your eyes will never be brown again. That's part of the reason the program pays so well."

"Okay, so let me see...it gives you red eyes or gold, whatever...you have to eat a special diet...it gives you increased athletic performance...and if you guys are any indicator, enhanced hearing and stone cold skin too...you can't change back...you have a lot of money... _this guy_ , is old enough for you to be teasing him about it...and she is his _mate._ Jack...are you _certain_ you want to pursue this? I know what we always said, and I'm in if you are, but we need to be sure. There's no going back," Jill spelled out subtly, yet not so subtly.

"I was pretty sure I knew what this was, right around the time _she_ came over. No one can be _that_ hot and be human," he shrugged. "Once we have _all_ the information, I'm in. Their food source is a lot more readily available than ours. We're already pretty nocturnal. And you know I hate garlic," Jack smirked.

"Some of those are misnomers," The Major corrected. "But we can take you back to the house and explain everything, if you're really interested."

"We are," Jill confirmed.

We all let out an inaudible sigh of relief. "Good, then it's time to go," I advised. "Alice's jeans are stressing her out."

* * *

 **Major's POV**

"So the biggest drawbacks are the bloodlust, having to stay out of direct sunlight, and societal alienation?" Jack confirmed as we were sittin' around the Seattle house livin' room. I nodded.

Jill laughed. "We are already rejects from society. And if you can't tell by our pasty white skin, we don't spend much time in the sun anyway. So the only _real_ issue is the blood thing, and that's manageable," she assessed.

"Do you have any other questions?" I asked them.

"When can we be changed?" Jack inquired eagerly.

"If it's alright with the two o' you, we should head back to the Forks area before we turn ya. We turned these four already because we found them at a hospice. So it was pretty time sensitive. But we have six newborns here at the moment, and addin' any more would be stretchin' ourselves pretty thin. Once we get back home, there'll be more supervision and it'll be safer," I reasoned.

"That makes sense. Pretty sure if we all went on a killing spree, _that'd_ make the evening news. Even in Seattle," Jill giggled.

"That brings me to our next question for you. What do you think you'll want your diet to be? Of the newborns, Charlie and Mandy are basically provin' to be omnivores, they'll eat whatever's convenient, critters or criminals. Bella, Everest, and Kelsey have been eatin' critters only, so far. And Darcy, criminals only. There's also blood bags, but we prefer to keep those for emergencies, since they're harder to come by." I explained offerin' them their only options. Even the carnivores among us didn't dine on _innocent_ people.

They glanced at each other briefly. "Criminals," they both said in unison.

"We want the red eyes. And I cried during Bambi," Jill confessed. "I don't cry during zombie movies though, so I figure I'll fair much better as a neck muncher."

"Plus, we're used to living in the city. We grew up our whole lives in the city. So if we're going to be living in a small town rural atmosphere, it would be nice to get to come back into the city to feed. We'd miss the noise otherwise," Jack added.

"Alright, then we'll take ya back to Forks, turn ya there, and our human drinkin' friends back home can be in charge of bringin' ya back here to feed once yer turned. Pete's been teachin' Darcy, and took Charlie and Mandy out once. 'Cause Pete has the most recent experience with drinkin' from humans outta those of us currently in Seattle. But he's a veggie vamp now for the most part, 'cause he and Char have been attendin' school with us. Red eyes don't blend in so well in high school," I laughed.

"Sounds like a plan. But I gotta ask," Jack began, "when you say you have a bunch of other vampire allies back home, are any of them hot, unmated chicks?"

I laughed, then quickly sobered, pattin' him on the back. "Ones that want an eternally fourteen year old? Probably not. I mean there's Maggie, she's probably fifteen or sixteen, I think. And some of the Amazons might be in their later teen years. Then Kelsey here is what...like sixteen?"

"That's Mandy. I'm eighteen, Major, which you ought to know, as my sire," Kelsey teased.

"I know how old ya are. I thought women liked it when you made them out to be younger than they are," I shrugged.

" _Old_ women, maybe," Alice giggled. " _Young_ women, like it when you make them out to be older than they are."

"Well, considering I have been young, and old and young again and old again, many times over, I don't really care much either way," Kelsey smiled. "Age is just a number really."

"Everest, how old are you?" Edward asked. "While we're on the topic, I mean.

"I'm nineteen, and Darcy is twenty," Everest replied.

"He didn't _ask_ my age," Darcy smirked, lookin' from Everest to Edward.

"That was going to be my next question," Edward covered. _Sure it was, man. Sure it was._

"Alright folks, let's all get rounded up and ready to make the trip back to Forks!" I advised and everyone did just that.

* * *

After Jack and Jill went through their change in Forks, we had the human drinkers take them huntin' one at a time. The reason we did that, was because we wanted to find out which one was the Nul and what gift, if any, the other had.

It turned out that Jill was the Nul. It also turned out, that that wasn't technically the case. They were both unspecified. They had already been practicin' magic as humans and Jack, was a pyromaniac. So the first gift he manifested, and had already been honing as a human, was the ability to start fires. Hence his name. As street kids, they didn't go by their real names. And Jack's entire alias, was Jack B. Nimble. Like in the nursery rhyme.

Jill's alias, was Jill E. Pole, after the character, Jill Pole from Narnia. And considerin' she had spent most of her time putting out Jack's fires when they first began learnin' magic, it was no wonder the first gift she manifested was the ability to negate anythin' Jack did. She just didn't have the control or the trainin' as a human to be able to negate only some gifts but not others. Though Eleazar said this would come fairly easily to her now as a vampire.

So, with Jack and Jill changed, it was finally time for everyone to relax for a while and get to know all the newborns. I for one was glad of the break, it might be the last time we got any downtime for a long while.

* * *

 **AN: What do we think of these two? I'm sure it's easy to guess why they exist, but I tried to make them entertaining as well as useful, so hopefully we like them ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯**

 **As always, love to hear your feedback! ;-***

 **-Blessings, BMW**


	20. Ch 20: New Recruits at Home, Phase

**AN: Thank you so much to all my readers, followers, favouriters and reviewers. Huge thanks to kouga's older woman, TheOodWillRise, bakerusaf, CentauRita, FaithAnne95, ckaren09, and 01Katie, for reviewing Chapter 19! You're all so awesome and I appreciate the time you take to leave me your feedback!**

 **This chapter is a pretty long one, comparatively speaking. Which means there's plenty to comment on so I look forward to hearing from everyone about this one. There's a few big reveals in here too, so I hope you like them!**

 **Now, onto the chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 20: New Recruits at Home, Phase 1**

 **Bella's POV**

It was agreed on by everyone, that we all needed to take some time to just chill as a family and get to know each other better. Strengthening our familial bonds would help us function better as a unit when war finally came to our doorstep. And as Kelsey told us, though she wouldn't elaborate much, most of us had known each other before in other lifetimes. So we were really just _re_ connecting anyway.

Thanks to vampire hearing, I was privy to most of the conversations that transpired over the following weeks. Some of them were pretty interesting.

The Major and I were sitting in our bedroom cuddled up one day, reading our favorite books, when I heard one particularly interesting conversation from the living room.

"Edward," Everest began. "Can I ask why the hell you always avoid me? You're my sire. Isn't that supposed to mean something?"

Edward sighed, and I could imagine he was probably running his hands through his hair like he always did. "It does, it's just…"

Kelsey was in the kitchen, where she and Mandy had taken to helping Esme, Carmen and Charlotte prepare food for the wolves. "Fer Pete's sake, Edward, just tell him!" she called.

Edward groaned, sounding pained. "Everest, I've been trying to keep my distance because Alice had a vision while we were still in Seattle and I didn't want to bring it up yet. For one reason, I'm still coming to terms with it myself, and for another, I didn't wish to...interfere at present."

It was silent for a minute, during which time I'm sure, Everest was trying to wrap his head around what Edward was _not_ saying. Surprisingly, it was Darcy who figured it out first.

"Holy Hannah! You're _mates_?!" he said in a voice that registered shock and awe and also some concern. "That's it, right?"

A pause, and then quietly, Everest asked, "Edward...is this true? _Are_ we mates?"

Edward must have nodded, because then Darcy spoke next.

"That's why he's been avoiding you, it all makes sense now. He probably doesn't wanna be gay, and he obviously doesn't want to break us up, at least not until he figures out his own shit, am I right?" he asked.

"Yes, that's pretty much the gist of it. Although, I don't see how I _can_ be gay. I'm still attracted to women," Edward puzzled.

That's when Kelsey stormed in from the kitchen. "Oh fer Pete's sake! I am so damn tired of people thinking it's either one way or the other! Straight or Gay, Coke or Pepsi, Star Wars or Star Trek, can't anybody get their thick skulls around the fact it's okay to like both?! Edward, is bisexual and has been since the creation of his soul. Throughout his personal history, he has been with both men, and women in pretty much equal measure, including several of the people in this house! So Edward, you can stop wasting time on the identity crises bullshit, because you _don't_ have to pick a side. This isn't politics, where you vote one way or the other. This is life, and it's messy and complicated and beautiful and nothing is ever that cut and dried, okay? You're fucking perfect just the way you are, damn it!"

Once Kelsey went back to the kitchen Charlotte chortled. "You've been hangin' around me too much. Ya keep sayin' fer Pete's sake!"

Kelsey giggled. "What can I say? It's catchy."

Then everyone quieted down to hear what would happen next.

"Well, aside from the whole rudely blurting out my soul's sexual history for the whole family to hear, Kelsey was entirely correct. I don't feel inclined any more one way or the other. But you have to understand, in _this_ lifetime, I was born into a particularly conservative and closed minded time and place in history. Perhaps in, oh I don't know, Ancient Greece for example, it wouldn't have mattered so much. But during the early twentieth century, in western culture, it did.

"And sure, I have lived through more liberal times since then. But, as a vampire, who has always tried to blend in. Not stick out like a sore thumb. So it was never in my best interest to explore that part of myself. And as a result, I have not done so. And Darcy, I know it must seem like I have some altruistic desire to not interfere with your relationship, and I wish my motives were that pure, but they're not. They're entirely selfish.

"The plain and simple fact is that I don't want to go from admitting that I like men one minute, to falling in love with my soul mate and living happily ever after, the next. It feels rushed and it feels like cheating. Just because we are vampires and have supernatural gifts, doesn't mean we should use them to bypass the human experience. If Everest and I had met as humans, with me in the closet and him out, he probably would have told me to go find myself and come back when I had.

"I've seen enough popular television to know that the last thing a confident, self-assured gay man wants, is to be thrown back into the closet by dating a guy who isn't really comfortable in his own skin yet. It just wouldn't be fair to Everest. And also, I want a chance to do single things. Go to a club in the city, dance with random boys, etc. I want the full experience.

"Besides, knowing who my mate is, is half the battle right? Darcy hasn't found his mate yet, and who knows when he will. I'm perfectly fine with letting them enjoy one another's company until we're _all_ ready to make a change. I know Everest is in good hands," Edward finished, and the smile in his voice was evident and genuine.

"That's really sweet," Darcy said softly. "But...what about the mating pull? That's a thing, right? How do you both plan to deal with that?"

Edward laughed, "well I _was_ planning to deal with it by keeping my distance. But I couldn't let Everest keep wondering why I was avoiding him. So instead I guess we'll just have to take a page out of Rose and Emmett's book. When Rose found Emmett, she had been through some things that made it hard for her to trust men. So they started off as friends, even though they were both in love with each other. It was a long time before their relationship ever turned physical. I think that's actually part of the reason they've always been so...passionate. The anticipation made it more exciting," Edward explained sounding far more clinical than one could imagine for someone talking about sex.

Everest on the other hand sounded...affected when he said, "Okay. Good plan. Now, if you'll excuse us, I need to hunt," and he and Darcy left the room.

As they headed for the forest I could hear Darcy muttering about how their sexual tension was probably going to get _him_ laid a lot, but it didn't sound like he was complaining.

* * *

Another interesting conversation happened on a day when Jake stopped by in the early morning to pick up the food that had been prepared for the pack.

He and I were standing in the kitchen and he was telling me about his new girlfriend, when he glanced out the window and his jaw dropped. "Uhh, did you guys know about _that_?" he said, and I looked to see what he was talking about.

What I saw, was Kelsey and Billy walking back into the yard from the forest holding hands and then, right before our eyes, we saw them kiss. A long kiss. "Wow, no, I had no idea. Wonder what that's all about."

"I'm gonna ask him," Jake said, heading out back. I followed him, since he was about to confront two newborns.

"Were you planning on telling me you're schtupping a minor, Dad? First Charlie and now you? Is it contagious like vampirism?" Jake huffed.

Kelsey rolled her eyes. "Why does _everyone_ constantly assume I'm under age? I'm eighteen. Being small, runs in my family! Have you met Aunt Alice? She's nineteen and tinier than I am!"

"It's okay, Sweetheart. Jacob is upset for other reasons," Billy assured her, sitting them down on the porch swing. "Son, I know this is the first time you've seen me with someone since your mother died. But I assure you, this is no fling. Kelsey, is my mate. We have shared many lifetimes together. Once I felt the connection to her, she told me we had known each other before. I asked to know more, and she was able to draw on my magic, enough to return some of my past memories to me. Not all of them, but a few of the important ones from a handful of my lifetimes," he explained.

"Wait, so...you're _not_ just copying Charlie? This thing is _real_? I can't decide if that's better or worse. Do I have to call you mom?" he whined.

"No, you do not have to. Although you _have_ been my son in three separate lifetimes," she shrugged, as if giving someone an account if their past connections to people was as trivial as reporting the weather.

 _Her gift is the only one that truly terrifies me._

"Can I put in a request right now," I interrupted, "that any little tidbits like that about _my_ past lives, you keep to yourself please? I mean, tell anyone else about it, if you want. I don't care if the family know my baggage. But _I_ don't want to hear about what I did, when or with whom okay. If I want to know anything, I'll ask," I asserted.

"Sure Bella," Kelsey nodded with a smile as I turned around to go back inside. And as I left I heard her whisper, " _That's what you always say at first."_

* * *

Even though everyone mingled as the time progressed, there were also distinct groups that formed around HQ. It was inevitable with so many people in close proximity all the time. There was the kitchen group, which typically always consisted of Kelsey, Mandy, Esme, and Carmen, who had both taken to mothering the two younger girls. Charlotte and Maggie also helped out as needed. And Emily, Sam's imprint, who had moved here from the Makah tribe after he imprinted, was always in the kitchen with them, whenever the pack came over.

There was the hot tub group, which consisted of the Denali sisters, Garrett, the Egyptians and the Amazons. The latter two groups liked the warmth since they were used to warmer climates and the succubi sisters just liked any excuse to take their clothes off.

There was the war history buffs group, which I was actually pretty interested in. It consisted of The Major, Alistair, Garrett, and sometimes Eleazar and/or Amun. They would create miniature landscapes of past battles and strategies and explain those battles and how they played out, to anyone nearby who wanted to listen. I listened, a lot. Darcy listened fairly often too, and so did my dad.

Then there was the garage group, which consisted of Rose and Jake, and some of the other wolves. Billy would occasionally go out there as well. I think it was from Billy, that Jake got his love of cars initially. And now that he was not confined to a wheelchair anymore, he went back to dabbling on occasion. But he was honestly more interested in practicing his magic and honing his powers, and content to leave the mechanics to his son.

The magic group, consisted of the three Unspecifieds, once Jill finally figured out that she could Nul her own gift, and be there for the training, without negating everyone else's. Eleazar was the one training them, for the most part. But everyone with a gift took turns joining that group, which was doubly purposed.

First, it helped the gifted vampires to practice under Eleazar's tutelage, because he could help us all unlock the unused potential of our particular talents. But also, it helped the Unspecifieds with their own magic, to be able to see and understand everyone else's gifts and how they worked.

For example, Zafrina's gift of projecting illusions was similar enough to Billy entering into the minds of animals, that they were able to learn from each other. Edward's and Kelsey's gifts also involved entering someone's mind. Some more intensively than others. So the four of them, were able to advance their gifts by utilizing one another's tips and tricks.

Zafrina, for the first time, learned how to create illusions in people who were out of her line of sight. Edward, and Kelsey, learned how to better tune their gifts out, as needed. They were hoping to eventually learn how to turn them off temporarily. Though The Major cautioned them about doing so for any length of time when we may have need of them yet.

Jill and I learned a lot from one another, because her gift was on until she turned it off, and mine was always off until I turned it on. So we both had to figure out how the other was able to do what we struggled with ourselves. My primary motivator, was that I didn't want Kelsey and Edward to have constant access to my memories and thoughts. And it was even worse, because Edward could read _Kelsey's_ mind too, so he could see my past, just the same as she could. He could see everyone's past, in her thoughts, including his own, and I had to punch him on several occasions, to keep him from telling me shit I didn't want to hear about.

But he _did_ allude to the fact that the reason I remembered him, was because I had previously known him the way he looked now. In what had been a past life for me, but was his current one. When I asked how that was possible, because I didn't remember any of the other Cullens in the same concrete way, all he said was, "Remind me to tell you sometime about my rebellious phase, and the actress who won my heart."

At that point I decided that Edward and I, needed our space. If I hadn't decided it, then The Major likely would have. So Edward agreed to spend more time at the house built for the Denalis on the property, and less time in my face, a fact I was glad for. After all, I had more important things to do than keep punching him, such as training my physical abilities, mental shield, and strategic tactics.

Speaking of strategic tactics, it was during magic group one day that we figured out an important facet of Jill's gift. She was explaining to Billy what it feels like when she has the ability on. "It's like, I'm walking through a snowy field with a snowblower. Wherever I walk, there's no more snow."

So I asked, "Where does the snow go? I don't think you're actually repelling the magic, Jill. If you were, it would probably be absorbed by anyone who happened to be just outside of your range. Here, let's try. Turn on your Nul, full blast," I advised.

"Okay." She nodded, closing her eyes.

"Now try to feel for what is happening to the energy."

She concentrated for a few moments. "Yeah, you're right. It's not quite like a push, it's more like a pull. I'm drawing it off of them, toward myself. And then it kind of goes through me, like lightning through a lightning rod, and out into the ground around us."

"So, the energy is just going into the ground? Does it have to?" I asked. "If you wanted to, could you keep it?"

"I'm not sure. I mean, I could try," she offered.

I watched as she attempted it, and after a few minutes, she squealed.

"It's working, Bella! I don't feel it flowing out of me anymore, it's like instead, it's _storing in me._ Like a battery!" she explained excitedly.

"Can you use it?" I asked. "That's a lot of energy. Try doing something radical with it," I suggest. "What's a really cool power you would want if you could do anything?"

"That's easy," she nodded. "I'd want to be able to enchant objects."

 _Okay, no idea what to tell her there._

Thankfully Eleazar spoke up. "The only one among us who has a gift that pertains in any way to objects, is Alistair. He can track them. In fact, it's what he is best at tracking."

"So she should talk to Alistair? Okay, I'll take her. He actually speaks to me," I shrug. Alistair hardly spoke to anyone.

* * *

"Well, what have we here? What did my Queen bring me today?" Alistair asked, as Jill and I arrived at his favorite spot in the forest.

"Hello Alistair," I smiled. "It turns out that we are in desperate need of your assistance." Jill was about to correct me and say that it wasn't desperate, when I elbowed her in the side.

"You are?" Alistair asked. "Then what, pray tell may I do to aid my Queen?"

"Well Jill as you know, is an Unspecified. And she wants to learn how to enchant objects. You happen to be very good at tracking objects. Do you think you could tell when an object has a powerful energy about it, versus when it doesn't? And how does one work with objects in general?" I inquired.

"That depends, Bella. Will you finally let me tell you about our shared history?" he pleaded. "Because I might have some information for you, but I cannot keep doing this whole 'ignoring the elephant in the room' thing," he frowned.

"Why does it matter so much, Alistair?" I wondered.

"Because that was the lifetime where everything fell apart for me. I've never been the same since," he clarified.

"Gee, thanks." I frowned.

"No, it wasn't your fault! It was political," he amended.

"Oh. Well, fine, you can tell me. But after this, we don't discuss it again." l insisted.

Alistair sighed and sat down in a low branch of the tree beside us. "I knew you when I was Gaius Julius Caesar. You were one of my mistresses."

And with that, he began to tell me the remarkable stories of the life of an important historical figure. But he told the stories in first person, because even though he couldn't remember much of it, thanks to Kelsey he now had a connection to his former lives. I was shocked when he told me who _I_ had been. And not entirely ready to process that information. When he finished, Jill looked confused.

"As enthralling as all of that was, what does it have to do with enchanting objects?" she puzzled.

"Well, aside from the fact that I've been wanting to tell Bella all of that, ever since I learned of it myself, it does have some bearing on your request. You see, in _this_ lifetime, I have done quite a bit of traveling. And wherever I have gone, I have always found myself drawn to museums, because of the objects within them, and their rich history.

"But I found, at times, that certain objects almost drew me to them, whereas others seemed to simply allow me to find them. But the ones that had a sort of pull...are ones that I have since learned were connected to my past lives. For example, things I had previously owned. It's almost as if being around an object for any length of time sort of keys it to your own personal energy, the energy of your soul," Alistair explained.

"So, what you're saying essentially, is that if Jill wants to learn to enchant objects, then her best bet, is to find objects that belonged to her in her past lives?" I confirmed.

"Yes, exactly," Alistair nodded. "Find out from Kelsey what they are, and I can track them for you," he offered.

"Great, thanks Alistair!" I smiled. "I might even forgive you now for making me sit through all that Ptolemaic dynasty, Roman takeover crap."

"Yes well, now you understand why I am always so paranoid and reluctant to trust people. I've been betrayed in every single lifetime since then," he frowned.

"Well it ends now, because no one is going to betray you anymore. From here on out, you are a Whilock. And we protect our own," I tell him. The Major and I had already talked about Alistair joining our coven. He never had a coven, because he couldn't stand to be around people, until the day that I had compared him to a hawk and he made a decision to train himself the way he would train any other skittish bird...one step at a time.

I didn't have to have The Major's gift, or Edward's, to know how much those words meant to him. But I was still a little surprised when he offered me a hug. It was not nearly as awkward as I expected it to be. But then...we _had_ created a child together in a previous lifetime apparently, so I guessed we were past the awkward hugging stage.

* * *

The first object Kelsey recommended, was a mirror which Jill had actually owned in two separate lifetimes, because she had once been her own granddaughter. It was easy for Alistair to track, because it had stayed in that particular family, and was currently owned by one of Jill's descendants. Thankfully they happened to be nearby, in Oregon.

Mandy had been practicing her gift, so we left her and my dad in charge of mirror retrieval. Mandy's gift, which no one had thought to ask Eleazar about yet, had first manifested itself about a week prior. She had become hungry for human blood, right after sex as was often the case, and then she and my dad suddenly found themselves naked in an alleyway in _Seattle_! But of course, she couldn't figure out how to teleport _back again_ at the time. So they'd had to run back naked. Meanwhile the rest of us had been freaking out looking for them, until Alice finally saw them running back in a vision.

After that, The Major asked Eleazar to please tell us what every new vampire's gift was, even if we forgot to ask. He apologized and explained that everytime he thought to mention it, something else came up that we needed him for with the training. (Mandy and Charlie hadn't been training yet up to that point, because everyone was intent on leaving them to the newlywed phase of their mating bond.) There were plenty of other gifted vampires who needed training more urgently, and Eleazar had been working with those.

But, after the random teleportation incident, Mandy finally started working with her gift. And after only a week of effort, she was good enough at controlling it, to transport herself and her mate anywhere within a certain geographic area. So far that area stretched into Oregon, British Columbia, Alberta, Montana, and Idaho. Basically the places in a ring around Washington State.

Eleazar said that eventually the perimeter would stretch, until she could go anywhere in the world and transport up to three people. But he described it like, stretching a rubber band. Try to expand it too much too soon and it just snaps back or breaks.

The mirror had been a good test of whether Mandy could transport objects. Apparently she could. Which meant that the way she started training after that was by running errands. Esme would send her to deliver meals to the wolves on patrol. She was also a huge help at setting up surveillance cameras wherever we wanted them. Because she could get in and out of places without anyone noticing. Which meant, with electronic eyes in a lot of locations, the wolves on patrol didn't have to run around quite so constantly. And therefore, they didn't have to eat quite so constantly. So the kitchen crew had more time to work on their own training.

And speaking of having eyes everywhere, Jill's first enchanted object was a huge success. She was able to spell it, using a spell from an old grimoire she had owned in a former life. Which Alistair also found for us and Mandy also retrieved. Now the mirror could show it's owner, Jill, anything she wanted to see. Jill was then able to keep tabs on all of the same things Alice could through her visions. She just couldn't see the future, only the present.

And once Jill knew how to do the spell, she was able to enchant mirrors belonging to other people as well. She just needed to channel _their_ energies to do it. Channelling was another thing she had learned from her old grimoire.

While Jill was been tapping into old European magic, Billy was researching old Tribal magic. Using herbs and ancient wisdoms passed down orally and then recorded and kept in the tribal archives. He was basically becoming a Shaman of sorts, whereas Jill was essentially a Witch. Jack, on the other hand, preferred physical magic. Using the elements, as opposed to things that were found in what he referred to as "dusty old books". So he began training with Benjamin and Everest.

They were learning how to create a thunderstorm. As vampires, it was a good skill to have to be able to create cloud cover. But since it was difficult to do so (contrary to what the superhero movies might tell us) at least for beginners...we had them working somewhere away from people.

Mandy had been teleporting them to Flower Island. She had to make three trips each way because she could still only transport one other person at a time, but it was the only way onto the island. Flower Island, was a protected island, because Gulls nested there. So there was no human access and boats were not allowed near it. It was also almost completely devoid of vegetation, making it the perfect place for our three Elementals to practice. We gave them each a satellite phone, just in case anything went wonky and they needed to get out quickly.

It was amazing how well everyone's gifts complimented each other and worked together. But it also made sense because for most of us, this wasn't our first lifetime knowing one another. I was surprised at how many connections there were. And of course, I didn't know about nearly as many of them as Kelsey and Edward did, but some were hard to miss.

It turned out that Rose had been Quileute in another life. Which was part of the reason she was so comfortable hanging out with the wolves in the garage. Once she found that out, she wanted to learn all of the tribal history. So she sometimes accompanied Billy to the tribal archives and would pour through the history books while Billy poured over the magical ones.

And during the course of his research, Billy also found something else. A prophecy of sorts. It seemed to be about vampires, but we couldn't figure it out. The English translation, which had been written by a friend of the tribe several generations prior, went like this:

 _When two from the start are of one heart, eternally once more,_

 _The tide which bides the test of time, shall crash upon the shore._

 _._

 _A beast of the south shall lose its mouth, its teeth be put to rest,_

 _Then once the queen has truly seen...begins the final test._

 _Once seen, the plot be not forgot through passages of time,_

 _And red and gold, from days of old,_

 _Shall coexist with thine._

 _Then comes the war until once more,_

 _with tyranny undone,_

 _Ye'll fix the spell which will as well,_

 _Bring two souls forth from one._

As soon as Billy found it, he brought it back to HQ and read it for all of us to hear. It seemed vaguely that it might be relevant. And given the fact that it was a Quileute prophecy which referenced red and gold we were pretty sure that it _was_ talking about vampires. But other than that, theories differed vastly. No one could agree.

Some people had quite literal interpretations. Emmett, for example, was convinced there would be a huge tsunami and that we were going to have to move when it hit. And someone suggested that perhaps the Queen of England was going to learn about vampires. A few of us had a good laugh over that one.

Then some people had religious or spiritual interpretations. Edward thought that 'the beast of the south' sounded like the devil and then someone said that if that was the case, maybe vampires were its 'mouth' since they bite and kill people and a few people started to worry that we were going to go extinct.

And others went so far as to think that the 'tide which bides the test of time' had to do with the moon's effect on the tides, and that if that were true, perhaps the moon was going to collide with the earth and kill us all.

None of the suggestions brought forth seemed to be very plausible, until Kelsey spoke. "I think it's about Jasper," she stated confidently.

"Continue," The Major nodded.

"Well, you started off as two souls and now you share a heart. And I'm pretty sure what is crashing upon the shore is going to be an army that has been biding its time. And if we look at the beast from the south in that context, I think we all know who is coming. And since she considers herself a ruler of sorts, I think she is the queen it mentions. After that, I think it is cautioning us not to let our guard down, and the red and gold part is about the vampire/wolf allegiance, because the wolves are the 'thine' since it's a Quileute prophecy. Then the war is obviously the battle with Maria, when she finally comes, and after that...it sounds like it's saying we'll be able to find a spell to...separate the two Jaspers," she finished.

Well. That all sounded mostly plausible. Of course, I had no idea how the fuck to feel about any of it. It was a while before anyone spoke. I think we were all waiting to hear what The Major would say.

* * *

 **AN: I think we're _all_ dying to hear what The Major will say! How accurate do we think Kelsey's interpretation is? I'd also love to hear thoughts on all the family connections both past and present. And lemme know if anyone has a favourite historical figure you want to see name dropped. We have plenty of powerful vampires here and most of them have lived several lifetimes, so we've got a lot of options. I have a lot of Bella's former lives mapped out already, and therefore a lot of The Major's, but most of the others I'm flying by the seat of my pants on, lol!**

 **Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

 **-Blessings, BMW**


	21. Ch 21: New Recruits at Home, Phase 2

**AN: Greetings all!**

 **Huge thanks to my readers, followers, favouriters, and the reviewers for Chapter 20!**

 **sweetsouthernsongbird, kouga's older woman, alklucio, Stargazer1364, 01Katie, bakerusaf, ForrestersWitch, CentauRita, and FaithAnne95! You all make me want to keep writing! x3**

 **Here's a treat for everyone! All of our POV characters get a turn in this chapter!**

* * *

 **Chapter 21: New Recruits at Home, Phase 2**

 **Major's POV**

Separate our souls? I didn't know how to feel about that. It had always been me and Jasper for as long as I could remember. Maybe it was time to find out more about the whole thing.

"Kelsey, I know I said my past life stuff an' everythin' was to be on a need to know basis and if it wouldn't help us knowin' it, I didn't need to know...but I think I need a little more information about my soul and Jazz's before I can figure out what to do about all this prophecy stuff," I informed her.

"Gladly, Major," Kelsey smiled. "It's kind of an awesome story," and she sat down to tell it.

"The Jasper Whitlock who now goes by Jasper Hale and whom we all know as Jazz, was born in 1844. When he was three years old, his father, Jasper Whitlock Sr. was killed in the Mexican War. But he never found peace and his soul was never reborn. Because his son was his unfinished business. The powers that be, knew that Jasper Jr. would soon have need of his father once more. After Maria turned Jasper Jr. he had to witness as well as participate in many terrible things. But Jasper Sr. having watched his son from the great beyond, knew that Jr. was emotional and not cut out for the hardships of Maria's war. Which was a much more gruesome war than any human war had been.

"So, his soul entered Jasper's body and took over. Sending Jr.'s consciousness retreating into the confines of his mind where he would be a bystander not a participant and was only distantly aware of what was happening. Jasper Sr. the hardened soldier...made himself his son's protector, and did whatever was necessary to keep his son safe. You, Major, are Jazz's father." she revealed, to the shock and wonderment of all.

I could feel Jazz freak out then in our shared mind. For the most part, his emotions mirrored my own. Shock, awe, confusion, love, concern, a multitude of things. But there was also an added embarrassment factor, which inevitably came with the knowledge that yer father had witnessed ya havin' a whole lot o' sex over the years. I had to laugh at that one.

"Well, it's no wonder we have different mates then. It'd be awfully awkward to say the least, if we shared the same mate," I chuckled.

And then, it was Alice and Bella's turn to freak out. "Wait, my _father-in-law_ has seen me _having sex_?!" Alice squealed.

And Bella was just like, "Dammit! I don't want Jazz to be my mate's son. I have sex with his wife!" I didn't want to laugh 'cause my mate was probably gonna kill me if I did. But really, I just couldn't help it. This...was some funny ass shit. Pete, who's sense of humor was much akin to mine, was already snickerin'.

Kelsey interjected and put the whole thing in perspective. "If you want to get technical, other than the soulmates among us, most people here have been both family and lover to one another over the centuries. For example, the Denali sisters, were once a part of Eleazar's harem, when he was King Xerxes of Persia. Now they are essentially his daughters. It's really only as weird as we choose to make it."

"Easy for you to say," Alice frowned, "you're not the one whose father-in-law watches you have sex!"

Okay, to that one I did laugh. "Alice, ya make it sound like I sit there takin' notes. I'm not a _total_ perv you know," I reassured her.

"Well, you do _practically_ take notes when I'm with _Bella_!" She huffed.

I scoffed. "That's different, Bella is my mate," I reminded her.

"Yes and _I_ am your _daughter-in-law_!"

Kelsey interrupted. "Aunt Alice...I'm gonna stop you right there," she said and took Alice's hands.

The vision that followed must have been pretty shockin' for Alice, 'cause her eyes went all buggy then.

* * *

 **Alice's POV**

 _I saw a vision of myself sitting at the side of the road, my face covered. A man, whom I knew to be my father-in-law, did not recognize me and thought I was a prostitute. He propositioned me, and without him being able to see who I was, I allowed him to impregnate me, later giving birth to his twins. I did this because my husband had died and could not give me any children, and then his father had failed to give me to my husband's youngest brother, as was promised._

My eyes regained their focus after the vision. "I was _Tamar_? Daughter-in-law of Judah?" I confirmed incredulously.

"Yes you were," Kelsey nodded. "Carlisle was Judah."

"Wait! _What?"_ I shuddered. "So not only did I trick my father-in-law into sleeping with me, but it was _Carlisle?!_ "

That's when Emmett burst out laughing. "Dad, you slept with _Alice_?"

Kelsey groaned, throwing her hands up helplessly. "So have _you_ , Emmett! This is why I keep telling you all, it doesn't have to be a big deal. Most souls live many lifetimes before being recalled to Heaven permanently. And once two souls have known one another in any capacity, they tend to be drawn to one another thereafter.

"It's why sometimes, when a human goes to Starbucks they may feel compelled to talk to the barista but other times they don't. That barista may have been their teacher in a former life, or the child of their friend, or a distant uncle they met a few times, etc. The eyes are the windows to the soul, and when we look into someone's eyes we either feel a connection or we don't. And when we do feel a connection, unless that person is our soulmate, the connection may take any form. Sometimes it might be romantic and sometimes not," she tried to explain.

Of course I was only barely paying attention, because I was still stuck on the fact that I had apparently slept with both Carlisle and Emmett before. "Kels, is there anyone in this family I _haven't_ slept with?"

"You haven't slept with Peter, Charlotte, Maggie, Everest, Darcy, or Jack," Kelsey said slowly, looking around the room as she named them, careful not to miss anyone.

"That's _it_?!" I squealed.

She looked around again. "Yep, that's it."

 _Wow._

"Oooh, do me!" Emmett grinned.

Kelsey laughed. "You haven't slept with any of the men."

"Are you saying I've slept with _all_ of the women?" he smirked excitedly.

"Yep. Every. Single. One." she nodded.

"Alriiiight!" Emmett chuckled, like a little boy with a Christmas present.

Rose smacked him.

"What? I'm allowed to be excited," he pouted.

Bella stood up then, and left the room, stating that she needed some air. I decided to follow her. She ran a perimeter check of the property, then perched in a tree in the yard.

"Bella," I asked her, "are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine. I'm just getting a little frustrated with all the past lives bullshit. I've told her that I don't want to know about all that stuff, at least not right now. But she doesn't seem to realize that depending on what she's telling other people, she's inadvertently telling me things too. Like how she just told Emmett he's slept with every girl in there. Without asking any of us if we wanted to know that. You really think Esme wanted to know that? I can't be the _only_ _one_ who doesn't want to know this shit. Besides, how do you think Rose felt to hear that her husband has had sex with every woman in the room? Bottom line...Kelsey's gift is _dangerous._ The last thing we need right now, is to be stirring the pot with any of our family and friends. We need allies! We're not gonna have that if everyone is too uncomfortable to be in the same room!" she reasoned.

"That's true," I nodded. "Would you like me to have a talk with her?"

Bella sighed. "Well, I think we need a set rule. It's one thing to give people their memories back. Which I know she is working on, and hoping to perfect. It's another to discuss their relationships to others in front of those people, without knowing if they want to know. Or in some cases, knowing that they _don't_ want to know. I think, that unless both parties come to her wanting to know their connections to one another, that part should be kept to herself. For example, she could have told you that you were Tamar without telling you Carlisle was Judah," she insisted.

"I agree. I think that is an important distinction. I learned long ago with my visions to be careful what I tell people about their futures. I will talk to Kelsey about being more careful with what she shares," I assured her.

"Thanks Alice," she nodded. "And...if the whole thing with The Major and Jazz being father and son, freaks you out too much, I'll understand if you don't want to be with me going forward."

"Bella, no! Sweetie, you're not the part that freaks me out. It's The Major that freaks me out, it always has been. And now at least I know why. He was intimidating enough before I knew he was my father-in-law," I sighed, shaking my head. "But there's no way around that, they share a body."

Bella was quiet for a moment. "Maybe they don't have to. Share a body, I mean. You heard the prophecy."

"Yes but what kind of powerful spell could split them? And would they even want that?" I pondered.

"I'm not sure. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. The more immediate issue is Maria. We have to survive that threat before we worry about anything else, Alice."

I nodded. "You're right. She isn't on the move yet, but who knows when she will be. And really nothing has changed with us. The Major has always been my father-in-law. I just didn't know that before."

"So, we're okay?" she confirmed.

I smiled and kissed her cheek. "We are definitely okay."

"Good, then let's go back in so you can talk to Kelsey and I can help the Major come up with a strategy," she suggested.

"Okay, sounds great."

* * *

"Kels, can I talk to you?" I asked my great, great niece.

"I heard everything, Aunt Alice. Remember, vampires can hear for miles."

I giggle. "Yes, I know. But hearing and understanding are two different things. Do you see Bella's point, Kelsey?"

"I do, but in every life she says she doesn't want to know, and in every life she changes her mind. It just seems logical not to waste time on ignorance. Time is not a wise thing to waste," she justified.

"Kelsey, I thought that as a human, you were only able to see the lives of others where they intertwined with yours?" I questioned.

"That's mostly true, but not with older souls. The more lifetimes a person has lived, the easier it is to see their past memories. Because the more times a soul comes back, the more the person realizes that they _have_ lived before. When a soul dies for the last time, and retires to Heaven, they get all their memories back anyway," Kelsey stated.

"Okay _how_ do you know _that_?" I puzzled.

Kelsey smiled. "Aunt Alice, I don't _only_ have my memories from each life you know. I also have all of my memories from in between lifetimes."

Now there was a concept that hadn't crossed my mind. "In between? What happens in between?"

"In between, you get to hang out in Heaven, waiting to be reborn. And you get to talk to other people there. Some of whom are already retired souls," Kelsey explained.

"Oh." What else do you say to someone when they tell you they've seen Heaven?

"Yeah. But Bella is right. The last thing we need is to be fighting right now, especially within our own coven. So, if it upsets her so much to know, then I will be careful not to reveal anything that involves her. The rule about not sharing the connections is a good one. I will follow it whenever possible," Kelsey promised.

"Thank you. I know Bella will appreciate it. And so do I," I smiled, pulling her into a hug.

* * *

 **Bella's POV**

I headed into the house after talking with Alice, happy to have at least one thing resolved. "Major," I said, climbing into his lap. "Can you brief me on what our plan is going forward?"

"Gladly my little filly. Our plan goin' forward, is to enroll in Forks High for Senior Year. The town will be expectin' those of us who were enrolled as Juniors last year, to attend as Seniors, and it wouldn't do to raise their suspicions at present 'cause we can afford to have to move. We're set up very nicely here an' we've done so much work with the wolves, it'd be a shame to lose their assistance by havin' to leave the geographic area."

I nodded in agreement. He had a valid point. It had been summer for so long, and we'd gotten so much accomplished having everyone home to train, it was easy to forget that we still had an image to maintain with the locals.

Of course, that meant we had another problem. "Major, what about all the newborns? Forks High presents a huge bloodlust problem, doesn't it?" I inquired.

"Not necessarily," said Pete from across the room. "Jill, do you think you could siphon some of the bloodlust from the newborns?"

Jill thought about it for a moment. Her channeling had gotten better to the point where she could siphon. Channelling was temporary, siphoning was permanent. "It would have to go somewhere. Draining that much bloodlust and just leaving it in the earth or atmosphere would be a bad idea for everyone involved. We would need someone capable of handling that much bloodlust."

Pete laughed. "We _have_ someone," he reminded us, and looked at The Major. "When The Major fought in Maria's wars, he was surrounded by the emotions and bloodlust of an entire army o' newborns. And with his empathic gift, he was absorbin' it all. Yet his control was perfect."

The Major frowned. "Yeah, but Pete, my control ain't been so perfect in recent years. I've struggled with bloodlust since then. Probably because I'm not used to havin' to do that anymore. Use it or lose it, I guess."

"Forgive me, Major, but that's bullshit. You've struggled 'cause you ain't been properly fed. The Cullens have turned you into a Bambi muncher, an' no disrespect to the doc intended, but while that diet works just fine fer the run o' the mill veggie vamp...ya just can't take the most powerful military entity in vampire history, the God of War, and expect him to subsist off of grass and leaves. The Major _I_ fought alongside, coulda handled _all_ o' our bloodlust and another twenty or thirty newborns an' never waivered. An' I might be outta line sayin' so, but _that_ is The Major _I_ want in our corner when Maria comes," Pete insisted.

There was a long pause while The Major thought about it. Then he called Alice over. "Alice I know, Pixie, that you worry about Jazz. That you fear what would happen to him if he drank from humans. And you probably had some visions once upon a time that gave you cause to _be_ worried. But this wouldn't be Jazz drinkin' from humans. It'd be me. And I protected him from their emotions durin' the war just fine. It wasn't until he tried to take over permanently and put me away for safe keepin' that he started havin' problems. So can ya do me a favor, Pix, can ya search yer visions? Can ya please let me know if it would cause Jazz any problems fer me to take over our diet again?" he asked her, more gently than I seldom ever saw him be.

Alice nodded and went into vision mode. When she came out of it, she was grinning like crazy. "Major, please drink from a blood bag right now, I want to show you all something."

And so, Carlisle brought The Major a blood bag and while he drank it, Alice spoke. "Ever since Maria's War, until we learned about Bella, Jazz tried to keep The Major suppressed. They never shared equal control before. I don't know why it never occurred to us to try it, but if they have different souls, and different mates, why shouldn't they have different diets. Now that The Major has fed on human blood...notice his eyes are slightly red. Mostly still dark, because that wasn't very much blood, but slightly red. Major, how do you feel?"

He smiled. "Much better. Like a drownin' man, gettin' his first breath o' fresh air."

"Can you call Jazz out please? I want to show everyone something." Alice asked. I stepped away from The Major, and he took an at ease stance, allowing Jazz to take over. When he did, we were all shocked to see...his eyes were _gold_!

Kelsey facepalmed. "I dunno why _I_ didn't think of it. The eyes are the window to the soul. Different souls, of course, have different windows! The Major's eyes have always been black, but it's not because his soul is irreparably stained like some people thought. It's because he has been _starving_ for many decades!"

"That makes sense," Jazz agreed. "I feel awful that I didn't realize he needed to eat separately from me. I can't believe I spent all this time starving my own father and never even knew." He shook his head.

"Don't worry, Jazz, he didn't realize it either. None of us did. And Alice was so worried about what human blood would do to _you_ , it didn't occur to her to search her visions for what it would do to The Major," I shrugged. "At least we know now."

Alice wrapped her arms around Jazz's neck and looked into his eyes. "And I don't foresee any problems with The Major feeding. He'll keep you far enough back that their emotions won't affect you. And you'll still be able to hunt animals with me and attend school because _your_ eyes will still be golden," she promised him.

I had to ask, "If The Major is going to be hunting in the city, does that mean I can be an omnivore? Don't get me wrong, I'd still like to hunt in the forest with Alice sometimes and have wild, sapphic, girl sex. But I think I'd have better luck with progressing my shielding abilities if I had some human in my diet and I'd really love to hunt the primal way, in the city with my mate," I asked them.

"Bella, you can hunt however you want," they all told me.

As soon as Billy and Charlie had become vampires, the treaty had been amended further anyway. It now stated that feeding from the terminally ill, hardened criminals (especially predators), anyone whose mind was gone, or anyone who _wanted_ to die, was acceptable, as was drinking from blood bags. And it wasn't the color of a vampire's eyes that determined whether or not they were an ally or an enemy, it was their actions, intentions and motivations that decided it. So, while we still went into the city to feed, because it was easier than covering up small town deaths, we didn't have to worry about the tribe where changes in our diets were concerned.

"Well, in that case, Jazz, may I have my mate back now please? I'd like to take him hunting!" I beamed.

"Sure thing, Bella," he nodded. And then after a moment, much to my pleasure, my mate was standing before me once more.

"Come on, Major. Time to teach me how to catch a criminal!" I smiled happily.

* * *

 **Jazz's POV**

The following week, the fall semester began at Forks High. Which meant that Alice and I, Bella,Edward, Pete and Char, were all going back to school. Kelsey opted to come with us, as did Mandy, Jack and Jill. All the newborns had been given the choice, since none of the townspeople had seen them yet, but most of them wanted to come. Except Everest and Darcy who opted to stay home, because they were trying to put space between Everest and Edward anyway. And Billy and Charlie, who were obviously far too old.

And having The Major properly fed, made an enormous difference. He had a much easier time staying calm while we were at school, and even though he stayed very much alert, he didn't seem anxious or on edge. And because he wasn't starving, our shared power worked much better too. I was able to dampen the emotional output I received from the other students, making it easier for me to focus and function during the day.

And all of these improvements to our wellbeing, meant that it was safe for Jill to siphon some of the bloodlust from the newborns and give it to The Major. Which meant that it was safer for all of us, _and_ for the humans, while we were at school.

Kelsey made a request after we had been back to school for a few days. It made good sense, in fact, it was rather brilliant.

"I think we should stay in the cafeteria for lunch today," she suggested. "I'd like to have access to the entire student body as a whole, so that we can all use our gifts on them. Now that Jasper's power is working properly, and Edward is enrolled, and Alice's visions aren't hampered by anything, and I am here, it might be wise to do a full assessment," she recommended.

And so, we settled into the cafeteria with trays of food. We got a lot of stares from the student populace at first, until Pete suggested I project disinterest. So I did and it worked like a charm. Hardly any of them looked our way again. There was one girl, however, who continued to glance at us. And I surprisingly didn't recognize her from last year at all. "Who is she?" I asked my siblings.

"Sitting with the Queens? That's Dinah. She's new here for Senior year," Edward said. He and Kelsey had taken to calling Jessica Stanley and Lauren Mallory the Queens, because Jessica had been Hatshepsut in a previous life and Lauren had been Nefertiti.

"Was Dinah ever a Queen?" I asked, out of sheer curiosity.

"Yep," Kelsey nodded in an exaggerated fashion. "And trust me when I say...we're gonna need her."

I looked at Edward. He listened to her thoughts and then agreed, "Yeah Jazz, based on what Kelsey saw and Dinah's thoughts, we should probably pursue this."

So, I turned to my wife, to see if she had been able to glean any sort of vision and she just smiled like a cat who ate the canary. "We definitely need her. I can't tell you all very much, without altering the future, but she will be important to the future of our coven."

So I reached out my own gift. And was surprised to find...happiness. A whole lot of it. And it seemed to be radiating off of Dinah, affecting the Queens and the others around their table. Really anyone she spoke with.

 _Another empath? Well, I'll be damned!_

"Alright, who among us do you think should talk to her?" I asked.

"Bella. From one former queen to another. But, not with those two around. We should track her down after school and have Bella invite her to the house," Kelsey advised.

I turned to Alice who searched her visions. "Yes, that seems to go surprisingly well," she agreed.

"Great, let's do it," Bella nodded, and with a plan in mind, the bell rang and we all headed to our afternoon classes.

* * *

 **AN: Well, what do we think of our new girl, who is she? Thanks to those who suggested historical people! I'll still be taking suggestions going forward so be sure to speak up with your favourites!**

 **Hugs and Blessings,**

 **-BMW**


	22. Chapter 22: First Threat on the Horizon

**AN: Hi all! Thanks to everyone who reads, reviews, follows and favourites this story! We are 22 chapters in, and this story is planned to be 44 chapters so that means we have reached the halfway point. This story will also have a sequel though, so we're technically at the quarter point as far as the plot is concerned. Hence why we're just getting into the action now.**

 **This is sort of the turning point, by the end of this one, The Major will have all of his plans in place. That means, we'll be ready for whatever Maria decides to throw at us...at least in theory.**

 **Now, I've been hearing from a few people that this story is too fast paced, with not enough detail and that I'm basically just telling events here. So for anyone who agrees with that, I do want to apologize, because adding detail is definitely one of my weak points as a writer. As such, I will probably eventually overhaul this story and add detail to hopefully improve the pacing. In the meantime, since we're already halfway through, I'm going to continue in the same fashion I have been, for consistency's sake.**

 **And I want to take the opportunity here, as always, to thank the reviewers from last chapter, sweetsouthernsongbird, deadliestdistractionRN, kouga's older woman, alklucio, Mindy-Liane, TiffaniW, CentauRita, ckaren09, and FaithAnne95, you guys and gals are truly why I do this!**

 **I assure all of my readers, I appreciate constructive criticism as well as positive feedback. Because writing fanfiction is a great opportunity to improve my skills as a writer. And I try to take any good advice as I see it, from the feedback I receive. But I am also aware that some things are a matter of personal preference and that I can't please everybody all of the time.**

 **With that being said, I am grateful to those who are enjoying this story, and I now give you chapter 22!**

 **Hugs!**

 **-BMW**

* * *

 **Chapter 22: First Threat on the Horizon**

 **Bella's POV**

After Kelsey's cryptic revelation at lunch, I was tasked with inviting the new girl, Dinah, over to the house after school, knowing nothing more about her than the fact that she was royalty in a past life.

So, without any idea of what to say, I sought her out in the parking lot at the end of the school day and began walking in pace with her. Much to my surprise, she stopped and turned to face me. Immediately, I felt happiness come over me, obviously an effect of her gift. "You are Bella Swan," she stated.

"That's correct," I nodded. "Dinah, right?"

"Yes. But before we talk any further, I just want to know...are you a _good_ vampire or a _bad_ vampire?"

I stopped, and pulled her gently behind a car before speaking. "What makes you think that I am any such thing?"

"Well...this morning, I didn't even believe in things like that. But on my way to my afternoon classes, I was walking down the hallway and a petite girl brushed past me, seemingly very intentionally. And when she touched me, I had flashes of memories. Of a woman draining a human of blood and killing them. There were a few other memories too and I don't know whether they were _my_ memories or someone else's. But either way, the woman in them was clearly a vampire, and she looked like you. Pale, granite skin. Perfect beauty, flawless features. The only difference was her red eyes, but I am guessing that your brown ones are probably contacts," she stated. "so I just want to know...are you going to eat me?"

 _Dammit, Kelsey! If you were planning to 'help' with this, you could have at least told me so I would be prepared!_

"No, I have no plans to eat you. And they probably were your memories. I don't think Kelsey's gift allows her to give memories to anyone other than the person who they came from," I reassured her. "I actually came to invite you over to our place after school. I promise you, no one there will eat you."

Dinah nodded. "In that case, I'd be happy to. I'd like to get to the bottom of this mystery."

 _So would I, Dinah. So would I._

"Great, let's go then," I agreed, as we headed to my car.

* * *

We arrived at HQ a few minutes after everyone else did. Esme had a spread of food prepared for Dinah, since she had been given a heads up to expect her after school.

"This is a lot of food. Do you have other humans here?" Dinah asked.

"We have Shapeshifters over quite often, a pack of wolves and they eat large amounts," I told her and then began the introductions while she ate. "Everyone, this Dinah, Dinah, this is everyone."

There was a chorus of "hi Dinah!" and "nice to meet you, Dinah," from just about everyone.

Soon it became apparent that she was staring at Amun. "I'm sorry, but you look so very familiar," she apologized.

Edward caught my attention, "her thoughts are similar to yours when you and I first met," he whispered to me.

"You think she knew him in her former life, when she was a vampire?" I confirmed.

"It's very plausible," Edward nodded. "Amun was born over three or four thousand years ago. He has known a lot of vampires."

I laughed quietly. "That doesn't exactly narrow it down."

"Perhaps we were once acquainted," Amun nodded to Dinah. "Either way, it is a pleasure to know you." He smiled and made a sweeping bow.

I had never seen Amun bow before, and the gesture was quite shocking. Either because it wasn't often done in modern day, or because it was _never_ done by _him_. Perhaps both.

"Well Dinah, perhaps we should explain ourselves, and allow you to do the same," The Major said, taking point. "My name, is Jasper Whitlock, Sr." He smiled. "Most people simply call me The Major. An' these are my family an' friends. We are a group o' allies who have gathered from all over, and we have also formed a friendship with the local Shapeshifter tribe, because we believe a threat is comin'.

"A woman from my past, a powerful vampire last seen in Mexico, has a history of creatin' armies o' bloodthirsty newborns. We have reason to believe that she will eventually decide to bring her army to Washington. She never forgave the fact that I left her service 'cause I was once her most powerful weapon. For many years, I was able to keep my identity a secret an' with the help o' Alice's visions, we were always able to evade her. She has yet to find a good enough tracker to hunt me down, so at least we have that workin' in our favor.

"Recently though, my identity has become less of a secret than it once was. Due to the process of findin' my mate as a human and buildin' our allegiances in order to protect her. She has since become a vampire...my mate is Isabella, just so ya know. We have also been addin' others to our number who fit in well with the family and who bring valuable talents to the table. We _thought_ we were finished expandin' our number. But several among us, when we met ya at the school...recognized that not only do ya have a valuable talent and seem like you'd be a great fit for our family, but you've also already done the whole vampire thing before.

"The question is...would you like to be an immortal again? I dunno who killed you the last time, or why, but I doubt it's any coincidence that your soul found its way back into the company of vampires once more. Perhaps it's yer destiny to be one of our kind. Of course, that's entirely up to you," he finished.

Dinah looked like she was thinking about it, at least. "Kelsey...is there any way you could give me back my best vampire memory and my worst vampire memory? I want to weigh the good and the bad before I decide."

Kelsey nodded, and The Major sent Kelsey some focus, which is something we had tried in training, to help her hone in on specific memories.

The first memory must have been the bad one, because Dinah crippled under the weight of it, clutching herself around the waist and falling to her knees. But then Kelsey showed her the good memory and we watched as her face transformed. "It's _definitely_ worth it," she gasped. Her face wet with tears. " _He_ is worth it. Count me in."

"Okay great, we'll get ya turned whenever ya feel like yer ready," The Major agreed.

None of us had the heart to tell her that if she'd had a mate when she died, the grief would have killed him shortly thereafter. But whoever he was, perhaps he was reincarnated too and would find his way back to her eventually. Eternity was a long time to locate your true love, after all.

* * *

It was decided that Jasper would turn her. Her instincts were telling her she'd rather be a Whitlock than a Cullen, so we went with that. We were happy to have her. Anyone would be happy to have her. With her gift, she brought happiness wherever she went.

So, Dinah took a few days to do some last minute human things. Then exactly one week after we met her, she became a vampire once again. The cover story was easy, because she had been living with an elderly uncle. Her parents, who'd had her later in life, had passed away when she was young; one of heart disease and one of cancer. She had no siblings or cousins, and she and her uncle were not very close. So she simply told him that she had enough credits to graduate early and was going to backpack around Europe. He had always expected she would move away eventually, and was none the wiser.

So, after three days of burning, she opened her red newborn eyes and looked around at us

I asked her, "How do you feel?"

"So much better," she sighed. "like something about me was broken, and now it is fixed."

"Good stuff." The Major nodded. "Next we need to get you fed. Will it be Critters or Criminals fer dinner?" he asked her.

"Criminals, definitely," she smiled, looking like a true predator.

"Alright, we'll take ya huntin' in the city," he offered.

Hunting in Seattle proved to be a different experience, having Dinah with us. Usually The Major just used his gift to dull the emotions of the humans we were hunting. He would either fill them with a false sense of security, or resignation, or sometimes peacefulness. But Dinah's gift didn't have the vast array of options Jasper had. So her prey were always happy, euphoric even, to die at her hands.

The first group of criminals we encountered were four youth whom we found beating a homeless man to death. The Major and I each took one member of the group out quickly, thinking we would be needed to help Dinah since it was her first time hunting in this lifetime. But she must have instinctively remembered from before. Because she took out one of the two young men quickly, snapping his neck and draining him. The other had been too scared to run away and as she approached him, we watched his entire demeanor change.

"You're gorgeous," he smiled. "My friend would be glad someone so hot killed him. Are you going to kill me too?"

"Yes, is that alright?" she asked him.

He smiled brightly. "More than alright. If I have to be dinner, I'm glad to be a meal for someone as beautiful as you."

"Thank you," she smiled and began draining him.

After we finished eating, normally Jasper and I would have cleaned up the bodies and then found somewhere quiet to have sex. This time, Dinah offered to clean up the bodies while we skipped straight to the fun part.

"Are you sure?" he asked her. "You remember how to do it?

"Well, I don't know how I did it before, but I think I'll just leave three of them under the bridge so they look like homeless people sleeping, while I take one out to the forest and bury him. Then I'll come back for each of the others in turn. It's nighttime so no one should notice," she suggested.

"That could actually work, yeah." The Major nodded. We usually drop 'em in the harbor. Or into a dumpster with accelerant an' light 'em up.

"Well, the harbor is fine, until the first time they have to dredge it. Then they find a slew of bones all over the harbor bottom. And the fire would work, but you'd want to come back once it's out to dispose of the remains. Or else someone could easily notice that the burnt out dumpster was full of human bones and then it would quickly become a crime scene," she reasoned.

 _Huh, well shit. I never thought of that._ "Dinah, I knew there was a reason I liked you." The Major beamed. We left her in charge of clean-up, since she obviously had it handled and headed off to find a secluded rooftop.

* * *

"You know, I don't know why hunting always makes me so horny after. I mean, we kill people. That shouldn't be sexy," I frowned as we headed up to a rooftop that had a nice garden and luxurious patio furniture. The Major laid me down on a lounger, and kissed me.

"It's because it's primal, Babe. Feral even. Brings out the ancient cave woman in ya.. Huntin' and fuckin' are two o' the oldest activities known to man." He smiled slyly, looking over my body with a predatory gaze as he stripped me carefully of my clothing. I returned the favor, undressing him quickly, needing to feel him inside of me.

"You're probably right." I nodded.

"I like it when you say I'm right," he smirked, entering me swiftly. "Say it again."

"You're right, Jasper. You're so right!" I cried out as he began to touch my body while moving in and out of me. We stayed entwined, moving together as the pleasure mounted. It was blissful and perfect, as always.

"You always look so damn beautiful when we make love," he groaned, pushing my hair back from my eyes as I reached completion.

"It's when I feel whole. Having you inside of me. It's the only time I can shut the rest of the world out completely," I confessed as he found his own release.

He nodded in agreement. "I know what you mean, I do too. In fact, I didn't even hear my phone buzzin' 'til ya said that. He reluctantly pulled out of me and dressed quickly. "Shit, get dressed please Bella, we have a problem."

He showed me his phone screen which had a text from Dinah. _Three vampire scents I don't recognize in the area. Bodies are finished being buried. Should I wait for you here or head home?_

Then another. _They seem to be getting closer. Something about them makes me nervous. I'll meet you guys back at HQ!_

"Dammit, no! Why the fuck would she go home?" I frowned. "If they follow her, she's just leading them right to Forks!"

"I dunno, Darlin'," he sighed as we got ready to head home. "Havin' been a vampire before she shoulda known that. I'm gonna text Pete and warn 'em. Though Alice probably has already seen."

"Okay. Tell them to watch for Dinah too. I'm not sure how well she'll find her way home if her instincts are as off as they seem to be," I worried.

"Don't worry Baby, I'm sure she's just fine," he comforted. But I could tell from his voice that he was concerned just as I was.

* * *

 **Major's POV**

Thankfully when we got back to HQ, they had gotten my message and were operatin' at a Defcon 4 level. Pete had doubled the number of patrols, for both the wolves and the vamps. Dinah had arrived back. And Bella and I went to talk to her straight away.

"Dinah, thank God you're okay!" Bella said, huggin' her briefly, then steppin' aside so I could speak to her.

"You should not have headed home, Dinah. Especially not alone. I'm sorry we didn't get your texts right away, that was my fault. But if anythin' like this ever happens again, go to the rendezvous point and await further instructions there. You coulda been ambushed or even killed comin' back here alone. An' if we do things which could put local civilian lives at risk….like leadin' unidentified human drinkers into the area, we could lose the alliance of the wolves. We can't have that, Dinah. I ain't tellin' you this to be mean, but I need my people to follow orders properly or we could all end up as a column o' purple smoke an' ash. An' I don't think any o' us want that, am I clear?" I stated adamantly.

"Yes Major, abundantly clear. And I am sorry I acted rashly. I didn't know how far away you were or if you were even coming. The scents were of three nomads. They smelled excessively of dirt and blood. Much more than one would expect of _civilized_ vampires. And my gift cannot cause people to behave in a friendly manner, it only serves to make _them_ happy. Which means that if they had swarmed me, they would have been perfectly happy while ripping me to pieces. As someone who has experienced that before, I didn't wish to experience it again. I panicked and acted foolishly. But I am someone who learns from my mistakes and I assure you...you won't have to worry about me the next time a situation arises," she promised.

"Thank you, Dinah. That's all any of us can do is learn from our mistakes." I nodded.

Next, I went around to each of my generals for a briefing. Jake had one of the wolves stationed at the house and Edward was readin' his mind and reportin' back to us so we would be kept informed of whatever the wolves knew. So far they hadn't smelled anythin' in the area. We had wolves stationed all over the Olympic Peninsula, and we usually had Vamps patrollin' the mainland coast includin' the Seattle/Tacoma area.

Now that there were nomads in Seattle though, we had pulled our vamps back to the Peninsula to shore up our defences. The worst thing to do in the face of a threat was spread ourselves too thin.

I reorganized us so that our best military minds, my lieutenants, were on patrol in all the key areas. Charlie was watching over Forks because he knew the area better than anybody else and had the resources of the Forks PD at his disposal. Garrett was stationed in Port Angeles. Alistair was watching over Poulsbo. Liam and the Irish Coven were set up in Bremerton. Eleazar and the Denalis were in Olympia, which was close to Capitol State Forest in case they needed to hunt.

And Pete an' Char, along with Emmett an' Rose, I sent to the most important point of defense, Artondale. It was the most likely place for a vampire (especially a human drinker) to cross the sound on foot. Because it was narrower there, an' populated on both sides. But there was also another reason I wanted that area well defended. It was near McNeil Island. If the vampires that Dinah had scented in Seattle were workin' fer Maria, they could be building a newborn army. It would be much easier for her to build an army locally and set up a base to train newborns nearby, than to bring 'em up from Mexico. If I were her...that's what I would do.

McNeil Island would be the perfect place fer her to train and acquire newborns, as well as havin' ample food for 'em. It was home to a Corrections Center, as well as a Special Commitment Center. Maria tended to like newborns whose moral compass was broken. It allowed her to easily persuade 'em to do her biddin', either by promises of power, wealth or other reward. Knowin' her, she'd turn the violent sex offenders into vampires an' feed the regular inmates to 'em. She'd probably offer local girls up to 'em as rewards for obedience as well. In other words, if she got a foothold there...a lot of people would be fucked. No pun intended.

So we needed to ensure that would never happen. Pete and Char were two of my best fighters, an' his gift helped him to know instinctively where to go while patrollin' the area. The reason I also sent Em an' Rose down there, was that no one else would be quite as motivated to keep predators from bein' turned as Rosalie would. Sometimes skill wasn't nearly as effective as ample motivation.

Once I had all my people strategically placed around the peninsula, we fortified headquarters. Carlisle had been stockpilin' blood bags for us from the hospital for quite a while, in case we needed to lay low at any point an' the human drinkers couldn't go into the cities to hunt. Our elementals had dug a large trench around the property. It was full of dry leaves, twigs, branches, logs and other burnables and accelerants. If Maria tried to march an army in here, the elementals would light the trench so fast, that hopefully a lot o' her soldiers would get caught in the blaze.

We'd wait until they were mostly all through to light it though and then I'd call my exterior forces in, to surround her, in case they tried to escape. Newborns were instinctively afraid o'fire though, so the odds o' one tryin' to jump a wall of it, pretty slim. It'd only be any o' her older soldiers we'd have to worry about fer that. An' once her forces were trapped on the property, our gifted vampires could make short work of 'em with hopefully no casualties to our side.

That was the plan anyway, an' I was pretty sure it'd go off without a hitch. Well, if the vampires that Dinah scented in Seattle were scoutin' fer Maria, I guessed we'd find out sooner than later. And sure enough, I got a call right away from the Denalis.

"The nomads approached us in Olympia, we're bringing them to you for questioning, Major," Eleazar said over the phone.

"Thank you, Eleazar, good work," I replied and then went to let the wolves know to shore up the area around Olympia and escort our guests in. Soon we'd know if these newcomers were foes or friendlies.

* * *

 **AN: Any guesses? As always, please take the time to review, your feedback is dearly appreciated!**


	23. Chapter 23: First Threat Arrives

**AN: Hi y'all! Thank you so much for all of your contributions! I am always pleased to see new readers, follows, favourites and of course...feedback!**

 **Mega thanks to the reviewers for last chapter, ForrestersWitch, sweetsouthernsongbird, Estel Ashlee Snape, 01Katie, kouga's older woman, jeoliverio, kelmikmag, and CentauRita! Y'all are receiving a virtual glass of Cachaça on the house!**

 **This chapter is a little on the long side, so I hope that's okay. Anyway, here it is!**

 **Hugs!**

 **-BMW**

* * *

 **Chapter 23: First Threat Arrives**

 **Major's POV**

When I questioned the three nomads, I only had Peter, Charlotte and Isabella present. In hindsight, that was a terrible idea. But I didn't want the nomads to know our numbers, in case there was any chance we might be able to let 'em be on their way, peaceably.

I had sent Charlie and Mandy, along with Billy and Kelsey, to relieve Pete and Char at their post. Because I wanted Pete's gift when I questioned them. And Pete an' Char's combat skills would also be helpful if it came down to a fight.

The nomads had already seen the Denali coven so they knew about them, obviously. But it would be easy enough to pass 'em off as friends o' ours who happened to be in the area. I knew Eleazar wouldn't've told 'em anythin' to the contrary, 'cause everyone had been briefed by me on what to say to unknown vampires.

But when Eleazar and the Denalis arrived with the nomads in tow, I have to say, I was surprised to see that he was only marchin' two nomads up to us. Until I realized, it was because the third...was walkin' with Irina. _Interestin'._

"Eleazar," I nodded. "It's a good thing you folks stayed on fer a while after our housewarmin'. Otherwise we mightn't've known we had these guests in the area." I smiled noddin' to the nomads as our 'guests'. "I apologize for the condition this area is in. You see, we had a whole lotta friends 'round on the weekend, 'cause we just moved here an' wanted ta throw a party."I explained.

Which was mostly true, we did move here (though not quite that recently) and invite our friends to the area. Just not for the purpose of a party. The male nomad looked relieved to be told that all the scents lingerin' in the area were apparently not from a single, massive sized coven, as he previously may have believed.

And speakin' o' scents, Eleazar would've already given them our cover story about the Quileutes. Local tribe o' Shapeshifters. They don't bother us, we don't bother them. Better than anyone findin' out the wolves are our allies. It makes for a more impressive showin' if our enemies don't know the wolves are comin' until they are right on top of 'em. Though, I doubted very much we'd need to bother 'em for a group this size.

"So, there are four in your coven?" He inquired. "There were three in ours, but our friend Laurent back there just found his mate, so I guess he'll be leaving us. But I have to ask, what do you mean to say you moved to the area? Are you implying that you stay in one area for some length of time? How do you manage it?"

 _So that's why the one called Laurent is walkin' with Irina then. She is his mate. Well, I guess I'll talk to him separately later then an' deal with these two now._

"It's pretty easy. We don't hunt in our own community. We go into the city to feed, and we are very cautious about cleanup. We only feed on criminals, terminals and degenerates. Folk who won't be easily missed. We expect anyone visitin' the area to do the same," I stated, lookin' pointedly at them.

"And because we live out in the country an' there are four o' us, when we need somethin' from in town, we alternate who goes and sometimes we wear disguises. That way none o' the locals get to know our appearance or who we are, because we hardly see or talk to 'em," I told him. Again, mostly true.

The male looked like he was ponderin' it. "An _interesting_ choice of lifestyle, to be sure. Why do these two have golden eyes like the other coven?" He inquired of Pete and Char.

"Well, when we met the Denalis and befriended 'em, Pete and Char here liked the idea of bein' able to feed locally an' not have ta go off to Seattle or Victoria or somewhere ta feed. So they converted to a diet of animal blood. Me, I'm not so easily swayed. I been a vampire since the 1800s, and I guess it's true when they say ya can't teach an' old dog new tricks."

I'd been pickin' up some odd emotions from the female the whole time, but now I was gettin' confusion, realization, frustration, irritation, and annoyance and I didn't know why. So I glanced at her and then back to the male with my eyebrow raised so he'd know I wanted him to explain, since he seemed to prefer to do the talkin'.

"You'll have to forgive my mate. Her name is Victoria, so when you spoke of Victoria the city, she likely thought you were speaking about her. We avoid crossing the border because we do not have documentation, so we have never been there," he clarified.

"Ah, alright that makes more sense now. I'm sorry I confused ya, Ma'am," I apologized.

"It's fine." She stated and smiled slightly, lookin' altogether like someone who probably doesn't smile too much.

"Well, since you're just passin' through and your friend here has found his mate among our friends' coven, we'd like to celebrate by payin' fer a hotel room for ya for the duration of yer stay in the area. On the condition, of course that you only hunt it the cities," I offered.

"That is very generous. I am sure my mate would relish the chance to clean up a bit. She isn't quite as adept at living wild as I am." He nodded.

I smiled. "Great, so that's settled then. The Denalis can take ya back to the hotel they've been stayin' at in Port Angeles an' Eleazar will text me when y'all arrive, so I can give the hotel people my credit card number. And speakin' o' numbers, here's my phone number in case you need anythin'."

"Great. Thank you very much." He nodded an' he an' his mate stepped back to wait while I spoke to Eleazar.

"Am I to assume yer coven is claimin' responsibility fer the male, Laurent, an' placin' him under Denali protection?" I confirmed.

"Yes Jesse," he agreed. Everyone had been coached not to call me by my real name or title in front of strangers. On the off chance Maria doesn't know where I am, I'd to keep it that way. Jesse and Jazz Hale were less conspicuous personas than Jaspers Sr. and Jr. Whitlock. And _far_ less conspicuous than 'The Major'.

We always needed aliases fer documentation anyway, so my papers at the time said Jesse Hale and Jazz had his own set so we didn't have to answer to each other's names. Bella's still read Bella Swan, since we hadn't had to fake her death or her father's, thanks to contacts and makeup. But it was agreed when we eventually started over somewhere else, they would be usin' aliases too.

I turned my attention to the male, Laurent. "You're aware that anythin" you do from now on will reflect on the Denali name, either fer good or bad? And that if you choose to continue in a human diet, you will not feed in rural areas. Also you know that where the Denalis live, is far from any cities and the only prey available to you locally _will be_ animals? Therefore you will need to convert at least partially to an animal diet, if not completely, upon yer arrival to Alaska with them?"

Laurent was noddin' along with every question. "Yes, and it should be no problem. Although the Denalis have expressed an interest in staying in the Washington area for a while, because the girls wish to attend some concerts over the next several months. I am told the Seattle music scene is really 'up and coming'."

"Alright. Well then I will leave ya in their capable hands an' y'all can show our guests back ta the hotel an' get 'em settled. Please call if any of ya have any questions or concerns," I insisted.

"Thank you, Jesse." Eleazar smiled and lead the Denalis and the nomads towards Port Angeles, where Eleazar _really_ _was_ rentin' a hotel room, as part o' our cover story. Plus it was a handy place fer the Denalis to have their mail forwarded while in Washington.

As we watched 'em walk away, I had a bad feelin' that I couldn't explain.

Once they were outta earshot for certain, Pete spoke. "Major, I foresee a storm comin' with the two nomads. The other male, Laurent won't be too much of a concern. He'll have some issues tryin' to adjust to an animal diet but that's a problem for later, and fer Eleazar, not us. But those other two...somethin' is gonna go down, there. I can't say exactly what, 'cause the specifics ain't clear. But I hope Eleazar can handle 'em."

"I hope so too, Pete. I hope so too."

* * *

 **Bella's POV**

It was a few days after our meeting with the nomads, and everything had been reasonably peaceful. We had gotten a couple calls from Eleazar on behalf of Laurent, wondering precisely _how_ large of cities were okay to hunt in.

Apparently Laurent was dismayed to learn that we considered cities to be any place over 100,000 population. It was easier to cover up a death in a larger population, and there were also more criminals in bigger cities to be found.

As far as the nomads though, we hadn't heard a peep from James and Victoria. We were starting to hope that maybe they would behave while in the area and not cause any problems. If that were true, it would sure be a relief to all of us.

Of course, nothing could ever be that simple.

The Major's phone rang and he didn't recognize the number. "Jesse Hale speakin', how may I help you?"

" _Jesse? This is James. My mate and I wanted to thank you for your hospitality. But we need to be moving on now. We're checking out of the hotel and we'll be out of your hair shortly," he confirmed._

"You weren't in our hair an' it was no trouble at all. Safe travels, an' feel free to call this number if yer ever in the area again," The Major assured him.

After he got off the phone we decided their departure was cause for celebration. There was no way they were scouts for Maria, because Laurent wouldn't be capable of withholding information like that which could potentially jeopardize his mate's safety. And we hadn't told them anything that could pose a problem if they ever ran into the Volturi or Maria in the future, so it looked like we were in the clear for now.

As such, we decided to have a night out in Seattle. Once all reports confirmed that the nomads had indeed left the area, all the vamps got dressed up to head out to a nightclub in the city.

"How do I look?" I asked the living room full of our friends and family, as I came back downstairs in one of Char's dresses. None of mine were suitable for a nightclub, since, as a minor, I had never been to one before.

"Here Darlin, you be the judge. The Major said, projecting the reactions of everyone in the room back at me.

 _Holy shit!_ I almost fell over because that was a ridiculous amount of lust! The dress in question was scarlet and the back was sheer. The skirt part was tight and showcased my ass, more than I was used to. The neckline was plunging, and left no option for a bra. Thankfully vampire tits seem to defy gravity. Even the most buxom vampire women could get away without wearing a bra if they wanted to.

The sheerness of the back continued in flares down the sides, and the skirt, in addition to being _tight_ was also _short_. So all in all, it was essentially crafted for the sole purpose of being sexy and it seemed to be doing its job, because everyone was still staring at me. That's when I realized I had just done something really fucked up with my shield!

Essentially, I had meant to put my shield up around me to stop the projected lust from transmitting to me. But because I was thinking about _repelling_ the lust, I accidentally cast my shield too wide. So instead of creating a bubble around myself, I created a bubble around the whole room! But The Major didn't notice right away, so he kept sending lust at me. I think he was hoping I'd get overwhelmed by all the lust and take time out for a quickie with him before we left for the club. But instead, the lust started bouncing off the walls of my shield bubble and hitting everyone in the room.

And once everyone started getting the amplified lust thrown at them, The Major started getting it back at him from all sides, which overwhelmed him. So he started unintentionally projectin' it back at the room in general. And because I realized what was happening and started to panic...I couldn't relax enough to let my shield down!

Before we knew what was happening, the entire room was so engulfed in lust, that no one could take it. And normally everyone would just take off and go make love to their mates. But because I had made myself a focal point, standing in the center of a big lust bubble, wearing _that_ dress...everyone just started touching themselves while staring at me! I closed my eyes, because it was waaay too weird not to. And The Major, realizing that the problem was my shield, came over to me and started sending me all the calm and reassurance and confidence he could.

"Babe, ya need to put yer shield down," he said softly. And I tried. But at first it didn't work because it's hard to relax when you are hearing loud moaning and people crying out in pleasure all around you. So I plugged my ears and focused on my breathing and eventually my shield came down.

Of course, by then, pretty much everyone in the room had reached completion and the entire place smelled heavily of sex! A lot of people had to get up to go change their outfits before we could leave for the club, and I felt awful.

"Did you two just cause a mini-orgy with yer combined powers? Man and I thought the group makin' _lightnin' storms_ with their powers had the coolest talent!" Pete laughed hysterically, until The Major elbowed him. He could see that I was upset, so he shot Pete a look that made him shut his mouth.

"Darlin', you don't need to feel bad. Once you've been alive as long as most of us have, not much embarrasses ya anymore. So I doubt too many people were bothered about it," Pete assured me.

"Easy for you to say!" I frowned. " _You_ didn't just make everybody jizz themselves!"

Pete started laughing again. "No, but I _was_ one of the people affected. And I can tell ya there's no hard feelings on my end, or Char's. And my gift is tellin' me everythin' is copacetic with the rest o' the family too, Sugar. So don't fret about it, alright? We're gonna have a happy night out now, so try to relax."

"Besides," Edward said, walking back into the room. "I can't speak for everyone else, but you're welcome to make me jizz myself anytime you want to."

I thought The Major was gonna kill him. Instead, he just pushed him against the wall, balling Edward's shirt up in his fist, and got in his face. "I don't care _how many_ lifetimes you fucked my mate in, Edward. The key phrase in that sentence, is _my mate_. If you haven't figured it out yet...I'm probably not a person you want to fuck with."

"Oh I dunno, you might be a person I'd like to fuck with, if you catch my meaning," Edward had the balls to say, _very_ flirtatiously I might add. He looked The Major right square in the eyes. "Relax, Major. I have my own mate to achieve an eventual happily ever after with, I don't need yours for that." And then, much to my disbelief, he ran his hand down The Major's shoulder. "But in the meantime, let me know if the two of you ever want to get kinky." And then, he winked, unclenched a surprised Major's hand from his shirt, and wandered off across the room.

The Major turned to me, looking for all intents and purposes like a deer in the headlights. "Baby, did that fucker just _hit on me_?" He asked.

I stifled a laugh. "Pretty sure he did, yep."

"Jeez." He sighed dramatically, running his hands through his hair. "Not entirely sure how to feel about that."

"Well, at least now you know he's not trying to threaten our relationship." I smirked.

"No, now he's just tryin' ta insert himself into it. I can't decide if that's worse or just weirder." He laughed.

"He seems harmless." I shrug. "And we have bigger fish to fry. We can worry about whether or not you're into Edward later."

"Dammit woman! I am not, an' never will be, into Edward!" He huffed.

I rolled my eyes and turned to Kelsey for help. "That's not what you said back in Ancient Greece, Major." She grinned, wiggling her eyebrows. _Dammit, I knew it!_

"Kelsey Brandon, we have a new policy around here. _You_ don't speak unless you're spoken to." He frowned, pouting like a little boy.

 _Hmm, apparently I'm not the only one afraid of my past._

"Okay, Major, it's okay. We have a bit of time until we leave. Let's go upstairs and I'll remind you of what a big strapping buck you are, okay?" I consoled him. He nodded and we went upstairs.

* * *

A while later, after I had stroked his ego _and_ his shaft, blown his mind _and_ his manhood, once he felt sufficiently satisfied that he had fucked me senseless with _all_ of his massive manliness and was no longer, in any way, feeling emasculated...we headed back downstairs. I touched up my hair and makeup and fixed my disheveled dress, and we joined the rest of the family, who were all piling into vehicles by that time.

"I call shotgun!" Yelled almost everyone simultaneously.

"We're only takin' five cars guys, ya can't _all_ ride shotgun." The Major laughed.

"Okay, who all is driving?" Emmett asked.

"I am, Carlisle is, Eleazar, Amun and Darcy." The Major said. "And they're all seven passenger vehicles."

"Okay, so I will take Carmen, Tanya, Kate, Irina, Laurent and Garrett. That solves my seating arrangement because my mate will ride shotgun." Eleazar offered. That left them with a seat available which we could fill if needed.

"Okay, the Denali Blazer is loaded. Who's next?" The Major asked.

"Well, my coven has four and the Amazon coven has three, so we will take them," Amun offered. Their two covens had gotten to know each other reasonably well in the hot tub. Which sounded hilarious to say, but was entirely true. And again, that left a free seat if needed.

"Great, that solves another one. Who else?" The Major asked.

"Well, I can take Esme, Emmett and Rose, Charlie and Mandy, and Kelsey and Billy, with me," Carlisle offered. That filled his vehicle.

"Sure, great, that works then. Darcy who do you plan to take?"

Darcy thought about it for a minute. "I can take Everest, Edward, and the Irish coven, and then I can fit two more, so maybe the twins? That leaves you with Bella, Alice, Pete, Char, Alistair and Dinah, does that work for you?"

"Yeah, that works for me just fine. And leaves a couple of empty seats so we're good." The Major nodded. "I'll probably have Alistair ride with me. Bella and Alice can sit with Dinah and then Pete and Char can make out in the back."

Em looked pitifully at Carlisle. "Who gets shotgun, Dad? You probably want to sit with Mom?"

Esme spoke up, "You may have shotgun, Emmett. I will sit with Rose and Mandy, and Charlie can sit with Billy and Kelsey, how does that work for everyone?"

That suggestion produced an overjoyed Emmett who scooped Esme up in a bear hug, while everyone else nodded their agreement.

So Laurent and Garrett piled into the back of Eleazar's Yukon XL Denali (which I swear he only bought to be ironic), leaving the middle bench for the girls to get in and out of easier wearing dresses. Meanwhile the Amazon coven piled into the back seat of Amun's Buick Enclave, leaving the middle seat for Kebi and Tia, since Amun was very protective of Benjamin and wanted him up front with him.

The Major and Carlisle were both driving Escalades, and those filled up quickly since we had already figured out whom to put where. I was just thrilled that Kelsey wasn't travelling with us, because as much as I loved her...that gift of hers was gonna drive me off a cliff pretty soon. Actually as a vampire, driving off a cliff wouldn't really do anything. So I spent the entire trip to Seattle wondering what vampires would say instead. I came up with 'That's gonna drive me to Volterra' as my new go to. And just for good measure, I tried it out, when one of my least favorite songs came on the radio as we were arriving in Seattle.

"Hey, can you guys please change the station? That shit is gonna drive me to Volterra!" I cringed visibly while secretly rejoicing that my catchphrase worked.

The Major looked at me quizzically obviously noticing the conflicting emotions. "New catchphrase," I explained.

"Volterra? Are we going to Volterra?" Dinah, who had obviously been lost in thought asked.

"No, I was just being facetious. I'm sorry, Dinah. No one is _actually_ in any trouble or anything." I frowned.

"Oh okay." She nodded slowly and then was quiet for a long time.

When we arrived at Club Dynamite, the new Seattle hot spot, we parked in their underground garage, and used their rear entrance. Which oddly enough, was a red escalator that brought you up from the parking level. We checked our coats in the coatroom, making sure we had all our valuables on our persons, and left hefty gratuities for the coat check staff who seemed bored out of their minds.

When we showed our IDs to the bouncer, a few of us got odd looks from him. But none more so than Charlie and Billy, who I guess he felt were too old to have fun. "This is a rather large group here, what's the occasion?" he asked.

"In town for a family reunion." I smiled. "Checking out the local hotspots."

I guess the bouncer figured it was plausible enough, because he let us into the club, so that was good. Although I still hadn't even figured out why we were here. "Can vampires even drink? Or are we just here to dance? Don't get me wrong, the music's great. I was just curious," I asked.

"We can drink, but it has to be spirits if you want to keep it down. So your choices are Whiskey, Tequila, Rum, Brandy, Gin, Vodka, and German Schnapps, if you can find it." The Major explained. _Uhh, ya left one out there, Major._

"And Cachaça right?" I remind him, not wanting my favourite hard liquor excluded from the list.

"Huh?" He asked quizzically.

I rolled my eyes. "It's also called Caninha." He still looked confused. "Pinga? Aguardente? It's Brazilian, never heard of it?"

"No, I've heard of Cachaça before, I've even seen it at the liquor stores on occasion. But it's almost always with the rum, so I assumed it was one," he explained.

I nodded, understanding. "Common misconception. Most people here think that it is rum. But Cachaça is always distilled from pure sugar cane. Whereas rum, is usually made from byproducts, such as molasses. Cachaça is sometimes labelled as Brazilian rum in America. But they're trying to get that changed, because it is incorrect. They're two different spirits. It would be like calling an Irish Whiskey a Scotch. Doing so would be likely to get you slapped in the country of origin." I laughed.

"My Mestre in Phoenix, was originally from Brazil and he would complain whenever he had to go to the liquor store for that reason. Because it bothered him to have to buy Cachaça that was labelled Brazilian Rum. So, I ended up doing a school project on it, and now when I do drink, it is the only thing I will drink," I explained. "Most commonly, people will make Capirinhas from it, which are a cocktail. But I like my Cachaça straight."

"I knew there was a reason I loved you." The Major grinned. I wasn't sure if he meant my extensive knowledge of all things Brazilian, or my love of Spirits, but either way, I'd take it.

"And I love you, Major." I smiled and kissed him.

Everyone ordered their drinks, and we found a large, dimly lit, empty, seating section that was in a somewhat separate room from the main area of the club. It was probably primarily used for parties but there was no sign saying that it was closed and it seemed like the perfect space for our family to chill whenever we were not dancing. We noticed that there was a counter in this area and that there was a bell on it that said 'ring for service'. We doubted anyone could hear it over the din of the music, so Peter decided to ring it a bunch of times just for funsies.

But he probably shouldn't have. Because an irate looking _vampire_ came out from behind a curtain with a notepad and pen. "You only have to ring it once, you know. My hearing is just as good as yours," He stated, frowning. "My name is Bertrand, I will be your server tonight. You're obviously not from around here. Before we get started, dare I ask why such a large group of vampires are travelling together? You're not on your way to Volterra, are you? I'd hate to have to relocate again."

"Uh no. We plan on stayin' as far away from there as possible. Nice to meet you Bertrand. We're travelin' together 'cause we're a group of friends out celebratin'. We don't live in Seattle, but some o' us live elsewhere in Washington and the others are in town fer a sort of reunion." The Major explained.

"Oh, alright then. Have you been here before? I know I haven't served you, but perhaps one of my mates has?" He asked us.

 _One of_ his mates?

"Uh, no, we thought this was just a regular club to get drunk and dance at," The Major confirmed.

Bertrand giggled. "Well, out there, is a regular club. But my gift is the ability to make myself, my mates, and my belongings invisible to anyone I do not wish to have see these things. So I decided to use that power for good. This section you just entered, is invisible to the humans, as well as to the Volturi, and anyone else who poses a threat to us. According to my power, your group does not, so what can I get for you all? We have every humab blood type on tap as well as a wide variety of animal blood types, sourced locally _and_ exotically.

"Okay, _how_ have you kept this place a secret? You said you've had to relocate before?" The Major questioned.

"One of my mates is an Unspecified. He practices mostly with potions. He created a potion that when we drink it, no one can detect our scent. So even those passing through the city, will never scent us. We get all of our customers through word of mouth, no one ever just stumbles upon us like you folks did tonight," he explained.

"How do you know what an Unspecified is? I mean, I understand that your mate is one, so you obviously know because of him, but how did you come to call it that? I thought Eleazar made that term up," The Major wondered.

"No, I did not make it up. Actually, it was originally explained that way to me by the first unspecified I ever met. My sire, Roberto Sánchez. He disappeared suddenly several years after my creation. Shortly after that, the Volturi came for me. I thought they must have killed him. It never occurred to me that he was whisked away by a vampire with an invisibility power, but I am starting to believe that may have been the case," Eleazar smiled brightly, as another man stepped out of the shadows.

"Hola, mi hijo," the man spoke, addressing Eleazar as his son, in a thick Spanish accent. "I wondered if ever we would meet again."

The two men embraced and if vampires could cry, I'm pretty sure there would have been tears. Eleazar then introduced his sire, Roberto, to his mate and coven, while Bertrand continued to speak with us.

"You said you have more than one mate?" The Major inquired.

Bertrand smiled. "Yes. There are four of us. All males. We are something of an anomaly, I know. I'm sure it is hard to understand."

The Major smirked and raised an eyebrow conspiratorially. "Not so hard as ya might think. My soul, shares this body with the soul of my biological son. This here is my mate, Bella. And that little Pixie over there is my son's mate, Alice. So my boy and I take turns at the helm o' this body, and as such, our girls have to share. Which led the two o' them to become girlfriends to one another as well. So ya might say, we know a thing or two about bein' an anomaly." He laughed, causing Bertrand to giggle.

"Oh my! It seems you do, indeed. Well now, let's get down to brass tacks here. Obviously, given your numbers, you're going to eventually draw the attention of the Volturi, which I am fairly certain you are counting on. Now while my mates and I have no love for the Volturi, we also have no desire to be back on their radar. So, we have a potion for that. The blood your group drinks here tonight, will also contain a flavorless mix that will cause you all to forget that you met us. You will remember only that you came here, drank, danced and had a good time. You will not remember that you met any vampires. If and when we meet again, we can give you the antidote and return your memories to you, repeating the process as needed. That way we won't have to reintroduce ourselves each time," Bertrand explained.

"I reckon that seems fair." The Major nodded and others began nodding as well.

"Good, then I will bring a bottle of each of our varieties of blood and several glasses and you can share them around the table," Bertrand suggested. "Oh and might I recommend either the Ocelot or the O negative to the lady Bella. Both of those would go wonderfully with your Cachaça. My mates and I have spent quite a bit of time in Brazil."

And with that, Bertrand went and retrieved a bunch of bottles of blood for us. Then he went back to work, doing inventory. Roberto stayed a while, visiting with Eleazar and catching up on old times. Then he also headed back to the grindstone and we were left to enjoy the club as patrons. We never met their other two mates, Ricardo and Gustav because the section of the bar that served vampires was open twenty-four hours a day and they had no other vampire staff. So they each worked a varied shift schedule that allowed them all to have ample time off and time with one another.

They had really built a great business serving the vampire community. It was a real shame that the Volturi would have shut it down and killed them all if they ever found out about it. The human blood was sourced locally from donors who thought they were donating blood for medical trials. They even had a private clinic with human staff where blood was properly collected and stored.

We were all happily to hear that everything was on the up and up and that they weren't just farming humans for blood. The donors were well paid, and given a potion to forget that they ever donated. The nurses were certified and they too were well paid. It was a win-win for everyone.

And as far as the animal blood, it was collected all over the world, by vampires whom the four men had sired throughout the years. They had a small private plane and would fly to destinations the world over, whenever the blood was bottled and ready to collect. Eleazar even offered to be a supplier when the Denalis returned to Alaska.

It was a shame that we would forget them, as soon as we left the place and went home. But I had a feeling we'd eventually see them again someday.

Even with all the visiting we did, we still had plenty of time for dancing, before the human part of the club closed. And due to the sheer amount of alcohol we consumed, there ended up being some odd dance combinations. I think the only person who wasn't surprised by any of it was Kelsey, who seemed to think that everyone should just hook it on up with practically everyone else. Since they had in previous lifetimes anyway.

Fortunately for everyone, Kelsey was not in charge, or we'd all be living in a constant state of orgy en masse.

And Em kept getting himself smacked upside the head by Rose, because he insisted on walking up to the women of the family on the dance floor and saying, "Dance with me, Baby. You know our souls have boned anyway. Where's the harm in a little grinding?" It worked for him a few times until they realized they were all getting the same generic line. None of the mates decapitated him though, so I think they knew he wasn't very much of a threat.

But Peter was the funniest to watch because he kept speaking Spanish to everyone but would occasionally slip into German for some strange reason. I found out later by asking him, that he and Charlotte had a German vampire live with them for a few years in the 1970s who didn't know any English, so they'd both had to learn in a hurry.

Anyway, it seemed that drunk vampires made for good comedy. So needless to say, I was sufficiently entertained. That is, until The Major got a phone call that caused us all to drop everything and head home.

" _Major, we were patrolling the same perimeters as before. My boys kept to their posts all night and never smelled anything. But then we heard there was a death in town tonight. A boy from the elementary school. He was only eleven! The deputies are calling it an animal attack but those nomads...their scent is all over the area!"_ I head Jake report anxiously through the phone.

"Dammit! They musta found a way ta slip in through one of the lesser patrolled areas! It's not yer fault, Jake. We shoulda been there. And I shoulda killed 'em when I had the chance. Tell yer boys to stay vigilant and don't let those fuckers leave the area. This ends tonight! We're comin' home now.

* * *

 **AN: Okay, so, I'm curious what the opinions will be on all this crazy content. So please hit me back if you can!**

 **Oh and don't worry about the Ocelot, I checked their conservation status, they're listed as being LC or Least Concern. My veggie vamps don't dine on endangered species. My bad guys do occasionally kill children apparently though, so I'm sorry if that part offended anyone. I tried to make mention of it as briefly as possible!**

 **Next chapter we get to find out if the nomads are gonna live or die, so that should be fun i hope!**

 **Blessings,**

 **-BMW**


	24. Chapter 24: First Threat Eliminated

**AN: Hi all! Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long!**

 **I want to thank everyone for your loyal readership! For those who have been following, favouriting, as well as the reviewers for last chapter, 01Katie, jeoliverio, ForrestersWitch, Ravena D Alister, CentauRita, Blistful2006, Grace, Babysis64, ckaren09, kouga's older woman, you folks all help me stay on track!**

 **The POVs for this chapter are something I had promised a long time ago (An entire chapter of Alice and Jazz only). I didn't think it would take this long to get to it, but this seemed to be where they wanted to have their say, and I think it organically fit in well here. So, without further ado, I give you Chapter Twenty-four!**

* * *

 **Chapter 24: First Threat Eliminated**

 **Alice's POV**

We all drove to the Seattle house and parked there because it was faster to run home than it would have been to get stuck in traffic. On the run, The Major got a text saying that the wolves had followed their training protocols. They'd herded the two troublemakers into an unpopulated area away from town and had not moved against them but were detaining them there. They were using the baseball clearing where we normally engaged in one of our favorite family pastimes; which was wise since the area was quite secluded.

As we ran, The Major had Mandy teleport Billy close enough that he could merge his mind with a hawk and fly over the area. That way we would know exactly what was happening, before we arrived. They got back when we were still about 5 minutes away.

"The woman, Victoria, looks like she wants to make a run for it. But the man, James, doesn't seem to be in agreement. They're sitting on a rock in the center of the field and our boys have 'em surrounded tightly on all sides. The redhead keeps shooting the man looks and attempting to get up and he keeps yanking her back down and glaring daggers at her," Billy reported.

"That's odd. Why would she try ta go against her mate in a life or death situation? Surely his impulse would be tryin' ta protect her. Alice, can ya see around the wolves?" He asked me.

Jill immediately took my hand and pushed energy into me to help me focus. Because none of the wolves were standing too close to the nomads, I was able to get a vision. But the vision was one which halted me in my tracks, causing everyone else to stop as well.

 _We arrived on scene and we all jumped over the wolves to form an inner circle, allowing the wolves to fall back and be the outer circle. The nomads looked startled and James snarled._

" _These mutts pets of yours then, Jesse? So much for the Southern hospitality." James wheedled. Then, Kelsey gasped, honing in on his memories and those of the female._

 _While The Major explained to James that our hospitality didn't extend to child murders, Kelsey whispered into my ear who he was; including the fact that he had hunted me when I was a human. He seemed to recognize me at the same time._

 _And it was then that Edward blurted out the truth about the woman. Whether he had gleaned it from Victoria's thoughts or Kelsey's, I wasn't sure. "She isn't loyal to him, she isn't he mate! She's here under duress, he is essentially her captor. He has been threatening and coercing her through lies and manipulation since they first met. He abuses her as well but has never done so in front of Laurent. Laurent did not know about any of this."_

When I forced myself out of the vision, knowing time was of the essence, everyone was staring expectantly at me. Except for Edward who had already seen the vision and was waiting patiently for me to speak. I turned to face The Major head on.

"We were misinformed about the female. She isn't his _mate_ ; she is his _victim_. We need to get her away from him. Also Major, he hunted me as a human. He would have killed me if another vampire hadn't turned me to prevent it." I informed him.

And with that information, I watched as something I could never have anticipated seeing (mere moments before a battle) happened before my very eyes. The Major stood at ease and bowed his head. And when he looked up, it was _my Jazzy_ in control! If I could have cried tears, I would have. Instead I just ran to him.

"He knew I needed to handle this one myself," Jazz explained engulfing me in the protection of his arms. "No weasley little fucker hurts my mate and gets away with it. This asshole burns tonight."

And with that, he took me by the hand, and Bella came around and took my other hand for emotional support. Together, all our family began to run the last stretch to the clearing. When we arrived, Jazz let go of my hand. He leapt over the wolves ahead of the rest of us, and had James on the ground with his arms ripped off in a fraction of a second. Then he began repeating the process with James' legs.

Surprisingly, Victoria tried to run to help him, but Bella brought her to the ground with her fancy moves and held her still. "Why are you trying to help him?" she asked. "We know he isn't your mate."

"He is a _tracker_! He knows where my mate _is_! If anything happens to James, I will never _find_ my true mate, never!" She cried shrilly. "It's why I stayed with him; it's why I didn't try to run away."

That's when Alistair and Darcy stepped in. "If it's a tracker you need, Love, we are trackers. We can help you to find your mate, Little Bird," Alistair spoke and that is when another vision hit me.

 _Alistair running through the forest, holding hands with Victoria. He was smiling in a way I had never seen Alistair smile before. The vision changed to one of Alistair teaching Victoria the art of falconry...Then Victoria teaching Alistair how to cook...Alistair and Victoria hunting criminals together in the city...Alistair playing melodious guitar music for her, singing softly._

I gasped as I snapped out of the vision.

"Um, Alistair...I think she just did."

* * *

 **Jazz's POV**

It was clear from the moment Victoria's eyes met Alistair's they were destined for one another. But first, we had a womanizing, abusive, child murderer to deal with, before anyone was getting a happily ever after here.

I walked over to the torso that was James, just as Bella carefully released her hold on Victoria, handing her off into Alistair's expectant arms. I knew, because of the friendship Bella and Alistair had built — as well as the past that they had shared when she was Cleopatra — how happy she was for him to finally have found his mate. If it wasn't written all over her face, it was palpable via my gift. "Sorry I had to detain you," Bella apologized sheepishly to the redhead, who looked a lot less disheveled in spite of her current circumstances, than she had when we'd first encountered the nomads. She'd obviously taken the opportunity of a hotel stay to clean up.

Her hair (though still as shockingly red) had been straightened and braided; it looked much better, allowing her face to be properly seen. Her nails had a clear coat of polish and her lips were glossy. Subtle improvements but enough that I think Alistair would be getting a pretty lovely package in comparison to her former state.

"You were right to detain me, Bella. I thought I was about to lose my only chance at finding my mate. I was pretty freaking feral." She winced at the memory of her own emotions from moments prior. "Little did I know he was right here the whole time."

She turned to Alistair and he pressed his forehead to hers with a soft smile. "I'll always be here, Little Bird. Whither thou goest, I will go."

Kelsey laughed and when we all glared at her, she rolled her eyes. "What? It's just adorable that he's quoting Ruth, _to Ruth_." she smirked.

Bella took off her shoe and threw it at Kelsey. " _That_ is your first warning. Piss me off again, and you'll find out how much fun it is to live without arms for a week, capisce?" Kelsey nodded frantically, making a motion of zipping her lips.

I winced at having to be the one to break their moment next, but we still had business to take care of. "Alistair, I know you've been waiting a long time for your mate, but her tormentor isn't dead yet. Would you like the honor of ending him yourself? I got to dismember him a bit but it sounds like maybe your mate suffered a lot more at his hands than my Alice did," I offered, throwing him my lighter which he deftly caught.

He turned to Victoria before making a decision. "Will it upset you, Love, if I do this?"

She registered pleasant surprise at the fact that he was consulting her and shook her head. "No, but may I please rip his fingers and toes and man parts off first and burn them myself, before you destroy the rest of him? I want him to suffer like he made us suffer."

Alistair chuckled. "I think that could be arranged, yes."

So, as the two of them carefully made sure that James' parts all burned and no portion of him remained, I pulled Alice into my arms. "Are _you_ okay, Sugar?"

She nodded. "It's a part of my past that I would have asked Kelsey about eventually anyway. But now I'm glad I found out in time to be able to look him in the eyes. So he could see that in spite of his best efforts, I am here and happy in the arms of my mate."

"You certainly are," I agreed. Then, seeing that things were well under control with James' destruction, I took her into the woods nearby. Because I needed to hold her and kiss her and scent her and make love to her. Even though I consciously knew that she wasn't hurt. Coming face to face with someone who had tried to hurt her...tried to _kill_ her even, and had probably also terrified her as a human...was enough to drive me into full on protective mode.

Thankfully my Pa understood that and was content to remain in the background of our shared psyche for as long as I needed this time with Alice. My wife understood my need as well. So she didn't complain when I licked her from head to toe, bathing her in my scent. Although she did insist we make love on a bed of moss, rather on a bunch of pine needles.

"Jasper, that was really sexy back there. When you took over to protect me." She moaned as I entered her, having made quick but careful work of removing our clothing.

I smiled, looking into my mate's beautiful, tawny eyes. They were quickly darkening with lust. "I will always protect you. Why do you think I kept control over The Major all those years? I knew he frightened you and that you worried about my diet when he was in control."

She sighed. "I was wrong to worry, Jasper. I didn't know he was your father. I just knew he was scary and existed beyond my reach. I thought he was a darker part of you."

"Well, in a sense he _is_ a part of me. Not only because we share one body and mind, but also he brought me into this world. I wouldn't be here with you, if it weren't for him," I reminded her.

She beamed realizing I was right. "Well, then I guess I'll have to thank him. Sometime when we're _not_ having sex, though. So now please, shut up and kiss me."

I laughed. "Yes Ma'am." _Don't have to tell me twice!_

Alice was the perfect woman for me. The powers that be, certainly knew what they were doing in creating us for one another. Whenever I would get to feeling down (be it due to circumstances and/or the emotions of others) my little fairy princess was right by my side to pick me back up.

Lying in the forest with her, I was able to take my mind off of the gong show our life was quickly becoming and focus on the positive, happy, grateful, peaceful emotions she was intent on projecting at me. Her emotional climate was almost always exactly what I needed. Even when she was upset, it was never nearly to the degree of most people's bad moods.

"I love you, so much, Mary Alice Brandon." I sighed happily as we made love.

"I love you to the moon and back, Jasper Whitlock Jr." She beamed back at me.

And we stayed entwined in our little cocoon of happiness for as long as we could reasonably justify.

* * *

After Alice was sufficiently scented (and we were both thoroughly satisfied and feeling quite wonderfully reconnected) we headed back to the clearing, hand in hand. By then James was already destroyed.

Alistair and Victoria were cuddled up together, watching the purple smoke rise. The wolves had been thanked and promised some treats from Esme's kitchen for their help. As soon as we returned, they headed off to attend to their regular patrols for the time being. Though they planned to have a bonfire that evening; they would trade off in shifts though, since we had learned the hard way about letting our guard down.

Speaking of keeping our guard up, I noticed our three Unspecifieds had gathered and seemed to be brainstorming. Alice and Bella followed my gaze and the three of us went over to go sit with them. "Whatcha cookin' up?" Bella asked.

She was always very curious about their work. Some days it seemed so odd to me that Bella wasn't an Unspecified herself. Kelsey had said her soul was _very_ old, so it didn't really make sense that in her many lifetimes, she had never learned magic. But maybe if she did, it was offensive magic. Or maybe she'd simply forgotten it.

"We were thinking we need a magical warning system. Or possibly a couple of them. If we could build something similar to the trench the elementals made, but around the entire peninsula; and instead of filling it with burnables, we filled it with a type of energy that was virtually siphon-proof...and would stay in the ground, but was spelled to alert us in some way, when an enemy crossed it...we'd have ourselves a pretty decent early warning system, I think," Jill ventured.

"Hey, that's a great idea!" Bella nodded. "What do you think you would need in order to accomplish it?"

"Well, we wouldn't need an actual visible trench because we wouldn't want a foe to be aware that they were crossing it. So essentially, I would just need to teach the other Unspecifieds how to channel and then between us we'd have to channel a _whole lot_ of energy.

"Then we'd be standing at three equal points around the peninsula when we do the spell (though it would be better if we had a fourth Unspecified so that we could stand at the four cardinal points, which would make the spell stronger). But we can wait until a celestial event and draw from that, which should help. Then it's just a matter of coming up with the right incantation and using the right ingredients. And presto! We'd have a reliable, permanent warning system," she explained.

"Okay, well, the odds of finding a fourth Unspecified anytime soon are probably slim. Do you think it would still work with three?" Bella asked her.

"Probably. It just might not be _as_ reliable," Jill surmised.

"Okay, so maybe you should draw from a more powerful celestial event to compensate for that then?" Bella advised.

"Probably, yeah. There's a solar eclipse on October 3rd, but that's only in a couple days, I don't think we could be ready by then. There's a lunar eclipse on October 17th, we _might_ be able to make that one," she hedged.

"Okay, well let us know what kind of help you need and we'll all do our best to supply it. In the meantime, let's all go home, shall we?" I recommended, and so we did.

* * *

"I still cannot believe you have a permanent residence here," Victoria said in awe after we had shown her around the property. She and Alistair were adorable together, I had never seen his emotional signature register even remotely like what it was registering now.

She clearly felt safe with him, but was slightly skittish with nearly everyone else. Not as much as would normally be expected, but Kelsey said she'd known most of us at one time or another. Which wasn't all that surprising, considering this group all seemed to be drawn together for subconscious reasons.

"Yeah, some of us even go to school in town or have jobs amongst the humans," I informed her.

"Do _you_ do those things?" she asked Alistair.

He smiled. "No, Little Bird. I am a much more solitary creature than that. But, I would try it if you wanted me to."

She winced. "Crowds make me nervous. But I know I would benefit from an education. Maybe I could be tutored _here_?"

"That is definitely plausible, Love." Alistair smiled, kissing her cheek.

"Yes, some of us have matriculated so many times we could really even teach you in our sleep." Alice laughed. "If vampires did sleep, I mean."

"Alright, thank you." Victoria nodded.

"It's no trouble." Alice smiled. "So, Victoria, what do you like to do, do you have any hobbies?"

"No. I wasn't ever permitted to do anything like that. I was only ever expected to serve James in whatever ways he wanted, and to be quiet. When we had Laurent with us, I wasn't even allowed to speak to him directly. I was expected to be seen and not heard, like a child," she explained. "As a human I was a servant, so I was good at chores. Though I can't really say I ever enjoyed them."

"Well then, you should take some time to find out what you like doing. I mean, we all participate in combat training and magic training for those of us who have gifts, but other than that, there is a lot of downtime," Alice advised.

"Okay, yeah, I'll think about it. Thanks." Victoria smiled, though I could tell she was feeling overwhelmed. So I steered Alice away and left Victoria to Alistair.

I decided we needed to check in with Pete's gift to make sure the threat was really over. I headed into the kitchen, where he was mauling Charlotte while she was preparing thank-you meals for the wolves.

"Hi Junior." He grinned when he saw me.

I laughed. "Oh, is that my new nickname?"

"Sure is." He nodded. "Though I don't reckon I can get away with callin' The Major _Senior_."

I chuckled heartily, helping Char wrap the ginormous burritos in parchment paper and tinfoil. "Probably not, no. I doubt he'd like that too much."

"Although, you know I've been thinkin' on an' off since we found out 'bout yer souls...it makes sense now, that you an' I bonded as brothers. Because technically we are. It was The Major who sired me. An' whenever he was around durin' the war, he was my commandin' officer so I didn't see him any other way. An' after we came back for y'all, it was always you in control. So even though I respect the shit outta him, we never really had a chance to bond until recently."

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I feel you. For so long, he was _only_ a military man and a starving vampire. I think he forgot how to be anything else. Until Bella came along. But now, it's like he has to be a man _and_ a Major. It's like he saved that part of himself for her and now that she's here, he can finally be complete.

"You know, I've seen him like that before. A long, long time ago. The face was different of course, though really only slightly; because I do take after him in looks. But Kelsey sharpened up my human memories for me, recently. Because I wanted to remember him, from when I was a lil' cuss. I know was only three when he died, and he was away fighting for part of that time, but when he was home? Well, let's just say if I had ever had children, that's the kind of dad I would've wanted to be," I confide, getting lost in those memories.

" _Jasper, come an' sit in yer pa's lap. I'm gonna play ya a song._

" _Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam  
_ " _Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home  
_ " _A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there  
_ " _Which seek thro' the world, is ne'er met elsewhere._

" _Home! Home!  
_ " _Sweet, sweet home!  
_ " _There's no place like home  
_ " _There's no place like home!_

" _An exile from home splendor dazzles in vain  
_ " _Oh give me my lowly thatched cottage again  
_ " _The birds singing gaily that came at my call  
_ " _And gave me the peace of mind dearer than all  
_ " _Home, home, sweet, sweet home  
_ " _There's no place like home, there's no place like home!"_

 _By that time, of course my tiny, human body was sleeping, but my soul was still listening. Apparently our souls are like vampires; they don't sleep._

I was roused from my thoughts by the fact that Peter was staring at me. And I knew my Pa had heard us talking about him as well. So, I took a steadying breath before I said to my brother: "When we finally put our old enemies to rest and can focus on really living...you should take some time to get to know him. I think you'll be really glad you did."

Char smiled and rubbed his back, then she quietly took the tray of finished burritos from us and carried it out to my Escalade. I tossed her the keys part way there so she wouldn't have to come back and dig inappropriately through my pockets for them like she often did.

Pete nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, I'll definitely take that under advisement. But first we have to get through this whole Maria thing. To which end, I just wanted to tell ya...my gift is given me the all clear, fer now. I think we'll get a short reprieve. Hopefully long enough for the magicians ta build their alarm system thingy, but maybe not much longer than that."

"Alright, well I guess we'd better step up everyone's training." I sighed, wondering when this would ever end.

* * *

 **AN: Alright, so I'm hoping no one wants to lynch me for not killing Victoria! I figured she'd be a good fit for our favourite recluse, and I've never seen anyone pair them before, so I wanted to try it. Rest assured she'll be an ally from here on out :D Though it may take her a while to adjust.**

 **Keep those comments coming!**

 **Blessings,**

 **-BMW**


	25. Chapter 25: Second Threat Arrives

**AN: As always, a huge thank you to those who have kept up with this story! Your readership, follows, favourites and reviews mean the world to me. Mega thanks to the reviewers for last chapter, Damon-girl96, kelmikmag, Babysis64, Ravena D Alister, ckaren09, and kouga's older woman! I experienced a site glitch after I first posted the last chapter where the reviews weren't showing up and it took a few days before I could actually see them on the site. So please, if you reviewed chapter 24 and don't see your name here, let me know. Reviews were down from recent and I'm hoping it isn't because any got eaten!**

 **Okay, so I'm putting a warning on this. Not because a violent crime happens, but because a violent crime _almost_ happens. So please, if you have ** rape **triggers don't worry, no girls were harmed in the making of this chapter, fictional or otherwise. Thanks.**

 **Blessings,**

 **-BMW**

* * *

 **Chapter 25: Second Threat Arrives**

 **Bella's POV**

A few days after Victoria had moved in, a huge complication (for me) showed up on our doorstep.

My mother.

I didn't know how she could have found me, until I realized that my cell phone, which I had shut off to charge faster, was full of missed calls from my dad's work. HQ didn't have a landline, and I guess somehow my dad must have misplaced his cell phone where he had everyone else's numbers stored. Can vampires be senile?

Either way, it seemed she had ambushed him at work, stating that Charlie's house didn't look lived in, and demanding to know where her daughter was. She had also noticed the differences in Dad's appearance (in spite of the contacts and stage makeup) and the similarities between him and Mandy; who happened to be there dropping off a muffin basket for Dad's coworkers. Everyone at the station knew about him dating Mandy, since her ID said that she was of age. They all loved to tease him about "robbing the cradle".

Renée on the other hand, was utterly disgusted. She had raved at him about how men only dated younger women if they needed to make themselves feel better about getting old, or were trying to find a partner who was a match for their own immaturity level. Or, if they were simply perverts. Apparently the possibility that Mandy was just a great fit for my dad, in spite of her age, was not on my mother's list of potential reasons for their relationship.

She ranted and raved so much, first at him and then later at me, that I thought her head was going to explode.

When Carlisle first opened the door at HQ and she was standing there, she burst through it like a whirlwind. "Who are all you people? Where is my daughter? Bella?! Bella! What kind of a cult has your father gotten you into?" She yelled, as I came down the stairs at a quick human speed, taking two at a time.

"Mom, relax. I'm right here, and I'm fine." I said having taken the time to do my makeup and put in my contacts.

"Bella, anyone who has ever taken a single cosmetology class, such as the one I took in university before declaring my major, could tell you that _this_ is all bullshit!" She huffed, taking a makeup remover towelette out of her purse and using it on my face. I would have stopped her, but I was afraid I might accidentally hurt her.

"And you are ice cold!" She continued, "your skin is hard like a rock, Bella, what is going on?" She worried, panicking.

"Mom, sit down and take a deep, slow, calming breath," I advised.

"Sweetie...are you...something _supernatural_ now?" She asked in a loud whisper.

"We're not supposed to talk about it. But hey, we're already breaking all the rules; so yeah, mom, yeah we are. Remember when we used to watch Port Charles when I was a kid?" I asked and she nodded, her eyes getting big.

"One word for you. Caleb." I said with a wince, knowing she'd understand that and dreading her reaction.

"Holy shit, my daughter is a vampire!" She screeched and then promptly fainted.

* * *

"Mom? Oh good, you're okay!" I sighed with relief, as she came to on the couch a few minutes later.

"Yes, yes of course I am fine," she huffed. "You can stop fussing, because I have _so_ many questions and I demand answers, Bella. You may be a vampire, but I am still your mother."

I nodded, not wanting to argue with her. "That's totally fine. I have some questions too, Mom."

"Okay. But _my_ daughter is a vampire, so I get to ask mine first," my mom insisted and I nodded for her to continue. She paused, obviously thinking them all over in her head and weighing which ones she wanted to start with.

"Can you turn into a bat?" _Geez_! I guess she decided to go with the strangest ones first.

"No, but several of my friends can turn into wolves. They're not vampires though, they're Shapeshifters." I shrugged.

"What are the ways you can be killed?"

"Mom!" I exclaimed, offended she would ask that so easily.

"I just want to know if I need to move into a house that is free of wood, or silver or anything particularly dangerous to my daughter! When you were a toddler, we put protective corners on all the sharp furniture in case you fell, this is the same thing," she clarified.

"Oh. Well the only way to kill us is that a creature strong enough has to rip us apart and burn the pieces." I frown.

"That's awfully graphic," she fretted.

"Well, _you asked_ ," I reminded her.

"That's true. I did. How about children, can you still have them?"

"No, Mom. Though I was never even sure if I wanted to." I shrugged.

"The sun, can you still go out in it?" She asked, seemingly sad about the children thing but quickly changing the subject.

"We can, it doesn't hurt us. But we do stay out of the sun when humans are present because it gives our skin a prismatic, reflective, glimmer." I told her.

"In other words, we shimmer like a disco ball." The Major said, sitting down on the couch beside me. I instinctively leaned into him, which my mother noticed right away.

"Oh! Is this your…?" She trailed off, unsure what to call him.

"My mate. Vampires mate for life, or more accurately for eternity. We have soul mates. Well, technically _everyone_ has a soul mate, but humans usually have a harder time finding theirs because their lifespans are so short," I explained. "Jasper and I have been together in many lifetimes throughout the ages. That much I know. Oh! Where are my manors? Major Jasper Whitlock Sr. this is my Mother, Renée Dwyer."

My mom flinched, a tear rolling down her cheek. "Actually, it's Higginbotham again. That's what I came here to tell you, Bella. Phil and I are separated, Honey. We're getting a divorce."

I paused for a moment, unsure what to say. I settled for the obvious question. "Why?"

"I just wasn't happy on the road. I tried to be, for him. His career is important to him. I wanted to be supportive. But, I found myself missing you, and I missed having a home. A stationary place to settle down. And he also didn't want children, we had never talked about it before. Because he was so young yet, only thirty-one, and focused on his career. But I assumed in another five years or so, we'd at least consider it. I mean I'm only thirty-eight, Bella, I'm still young. I've got a lot of good years left in me! I always assumed I'd get to have more babies, give you some brothers and sisters." She brushed a couple of tears from her cheek.

"Hey, Mom, it's okay." I said, going to wrap her in a hug. "You'll find someone who wants the same things you do. I know you will. Who knows, maybe you'll even find your soulmate. I did. Dad did. Anything is possible."

"Oh! So that's why your father is with that _little girl_? She's his mate? Well, I suppose I feel a little bit better about the state of his sanity now." She laughed. "But yes, people sure seem to be finding their mates awfully easily around here. I thought you said it could take several lifetimes?"

"It usually does. I don't really know why this group has been so fortunate." I shrugged, looking at all the mated pairs around the room. "It's almost as if we're charmed or something."

My mom's eyes just about popped out of her head. "Bella! Do you still wear that medallion that that seer gave you at that Psychic Fair we went to back in Phoenix?!"

"Yeah, Mom, of course." I nodded, pulling it out of my shirt to show her. "I never take it off; even for sex, ask Jasper." I laughed.

"Then you _are_ charmed, Bella! Do you not remember what she said?"

I thought back to my last summer in Phoenix when Renée took me with her to the Psychic Fair. The seer, seemed like the type who gave everyone the same generic answers while she was doing my mom's reading. But then, when I sat down, her eyes snapped wide open and she dug in a bag and said the creepiest things.

" _This medallion belongs to you, earth mother. I have been waiting for you a long, long time. With it, you will find your way back to the one whom your soul loves. And others around you will find their way back to their own. For a war is coming. And you need to win it, which you cannot do, without the right people by your side. United, you will stand. Divided, you will fall. And whichever you choose, decides the fate of all."_

 _Then she packed up her booth and went home. My mom and I laughed about it for the rest of the day. We thought it was totally hokey._

"Shit, Mom! Are you saying she wasn't a fraud?! Jill, can you come here and tell me if there's really any magical energy in this pendant?" I asked, and quickly explained to my mom that we all had different powers and that Jill was basically a witch.

The second Jill touched the medallion, she staggered back as if she had been burned. "Bella, there is more freaking energy in that medallion than in any object I have ever felt. Including all of the ancient artifacts Alistair has been tracking for me to work with. I've never seen or even imagined anything with that kind of power. And it must have a really strong protection spell of its own for neither Alistair nor any of us Unspecifieds to have sensed it before. Without a protection spell, that thing would be like a beacon calling magical people to it. It's clearly spelled to unite soulmates though. I'm really surprised anyone in this family has _not_ found theirs yet, given the power this thing has," she explained excitedly, as the back door opened.

"Hey everyone!" Jake called, walking in like he usually did. "I smelled an unfamiliar human scent on my way in, what gives?" He said the last part in a whisper so any human would not hear. Then he rounded the corner into the living room.

"Jake, this is my Mom, Renée. Mom, this is Jacob Black, he's Billy's so…" I trailed off as Jake looked into my mother's eyes and hit his knees.

Then Edward said the words that were going to make everything really freaking weird for me for a long time to come. "Jacob just Imprinted on Renée."

* * *

We had all watched as Jacob composed himself moving to sit with my mother on the loveseat. He had then proceeded to explain Imprinting to her as best he could. That it differed from vampire mating but was still based around the soulmate principle and some of the theories of the tribe, including the one about how Imprints happened in order to help wolves find mates who would produce strong offspring. She visibly lit up at finding out that he wanted children.

"Is anyone gonna bother to point out to her how hypocritical it is that she spent all day taking digs at _me_ for _my_ sixteen year old mate and is now sitting there mooning over a boy of sixteen herself?" My dad huffed.

Jacob stood up and crossed his arms over his chest. "She didn't _know_ this was going to happen, Charlie!" He frowned.

Billy stepped in, before we had a fight on his hands. "Okay let's just clear the air here. Obviously this whole situation is going to be really awkward for everyone for a while. Charlie you're my best friend and my sire. Renée is your ex wife. Jacob, you're my son. Renée is your Imprint. You boys never had a problem with each other before. So how's about, you don't start one now, okay?

"Everything happens for a reason. Obviously, the powers that be, had good reasons for bringing together the couples that are in this room. And as my Kelsey is constantly having to remind everyone, none of this should be awkward anyway. Because we've all been different relations to one another down through the ages. If Bella and Alice can accept sharing Jasper since the two souls of father and son share a body, then I think the rest of us can get a handle on our own insecurities and suck it up, okay boys? We're all mature enough for that much," he concluded.

And that's when the expression on my mother's face reminded me that I hadn't told her that part yet. So I quickly explained to her about Jasper's two souls as well as my resulting relationship with Alice. When I got to that part she looked really excited. "Oh Bella, it's just like a soap opera! Vampires, lesbian lovers, mystical powers, immortal souls, Shapeshifters, multiple identities, powerful artifacts, eternal love, it's all so wonderfully exciting!" She sighed contentedly.

"Yeah great. Now all we need here is a talking doll, an evil twin, a mob boss, and a pregnant woman getting stuck in an elevator." I laughed, relieved that she had such a positive take on everything.

"Actually, we could probably do without most of _those_ things, Bella," Renée corrected, rolling her eyes at me.

By this point, she was curled up in Jacob's lap and he was running his hands through her hair. I took the liberty of reminding him about one little thing. "Hey Jake, don't you have a _girlfriend_ you should probably break up with before this goes too far?"

"Dammit! I forgot about Annalise!" He frowned, obviously kicking himself for not remembering.

"I'm confused, why would you have to break up with her?" Renée asked.

"So he can be with you, Mom. Or were you not listening to the whole Imprinting thing?" I stared at her, waiting for it to register.

"I thought a wolf was supposed to be whatever his Imprint wants?" She puzzled.

"I am. Do you not want us to be a couple?" He asked, worried.

She smiled and kissed him right on the lips. "Of course I do. But I am also a modern woman. Do you like this Annalise? Tell me honestly."

Jake frowned. "Yeah," he said softly. "I do. I might even love her."

"Then _be_ what your Imprint needs you to be, Jacob. Be my soulmate, _and_ be Annalise's boyfriend. I don't need you to break up with her. Tell her the truth about the Imprint and let _her_ decide. Besides, I'm only separated from my husband, so I'm still legally married anyway. And given how much Phil travels, my divorce is probably going to take a long time to finalize," she reasoned.

"Okay, if you're _sure_ that's what you want, then I'll talk to her tomorrow." Jake smiled, kissing her on the nose. I had to admit, even though it was weird seeing one of my best friends with my mom...they were actually really cute together.

"Great." My mom smiled. "Now, I want to hear more about all of this past life stuff from Kelsey!"

I rolled my eyes and explained to her that Kelsey was not supposed to discuss people's past lives in front of people who may have been connected to them, so that everyone gets to decide how much of their own history they want to know. So Kelsey offered to go on a walk with Renée and Jacob and tell my mom whatever she wanted to know. Meanwhile I decided I wanted The Major to take me hunting across the border in Victoria, hoping to get as far away from Kelsey's gift as possible.

"Can I come with you guys? James never once let me go to Canada," Victoria asked. "I want to see the city I share a name with."

"Sure! Bring Alistair and we'll make it a double date," I suggested.

And so, while Kelsey and Billy headed off with my mom and Jacob to tell Renée about all of her former lifetimes...The Major and I, along with Alistair and Victoria, headed off on an adventure of our own.

* * *

 **Major's POV**

When we arrived in Victoria on Vancouver Island, we made our way to the less desirable part of town. Took a while to find anyone actively engaged in crime but when we did, it was a pretty serious one. A group o' four men were definitely 'bout to rape a young girl who looked to be 'round twelve years old.

We rescued her an' made a quick dinner outta her attackers. An' none of 'em had done anythin' yet, so thankfully we got there just in time. We also made sure she didn't see us eat 'em, obviously an' made it seem like we just used martial arts to knock 'em out. Victoria an' Alistair offered to clean up. Meanwhile, Bella an' I were plannin' on walkin' her home safely, so we asked her where home was.

"Where abouts do ya live, lil' lady? We'll make sure ya get home safe an' sound," I vowed.

"Uh, my home is actually that shack over there," she reluctantly informed us, still shaky from the circumstances.

I looked in the direction she was pointin'. "You can't be serious. That's just an old storage shed." I frowned. "Are ya a runaway?"

"Yes and no. My parents died last year. I didn't want to go into foster care but I had no other relatives. So I emptied my parents bank account and hopped on a Greyhound bus out of Vancouver," she shrugged. "I couldn't go anywhere people might find me, in case they were looking and I knew that the money wouldn't last very long if I tried to use it for lodgings _and_ food. It was only two thousand dollars to begin with. But you can't rob me, I keep it hidden," she added the last part as an afterthought.

"Don't worry, we won't try to rob you." Bella smiled. "But we also can't in good conscience leave you out here on your own."

"Well I am _not_ going into foster care. So unless you know of a good, safe place that's not in the system, where they take in orphans and fly under the radar...I'm _not_ going with you," the girl insisted.

Bella looked at me, an' I knew what she was thinkin'. But it'd be a bad idea to have her at HQ around that many vampires. An' she was too young to be turned even if she wanted to. There were no guarantees that she wouldn't turn out like the Immortal Children. But there had to be _somethin'_ we could do for her. Maybe, she could stay on the Rez with the wolves.

"Actually, we might. Lemme text Jake an' see if we can take her there," I said, pullin' out my phone.

"No need," Alistair informed us, as he an' Victoria came back. "one of the wolves is headed our way. We smelled him on our way back."

"Huh? Why would...we don't have 'em patrollin' this far north. They never cross the border. 'Sides...what'd he do, swim the Juan de Fuca? Which wolf is it?"

"Smelled like Seth to me," Alistair remarked, just as I started pickin' up Seth's emotional signature. But one thing was different that wasn't usually present. Seth was radiatin' concern.

My eyes fell to Bella's medallion. "Seth is what, fourteen? Yeah...I think it's _that_ damn thing."

When he arrived, I went to greet him. "There's somebody I think you oughta meet. Seth, this is…" I began, waitin' fer her to fill in her own name, since we hadn't got around to askin' it yet.

"Jenna, my name is Jenna." She smiled, and four vampires watched as Seth's whole world fell away and became one girl.

Just fer fun, I projected the complex yet beautiful cocktail of his Imprintin' emotions onto the others so they could see what it felt like. They almost buckled under the weight of it. I was okay, 'cause I'd felt it a few times before from some o' the others.

But in a moment, Seth regained awareness, tryin' to gauge the situation. I quickly explained, before he had a chance to draw the wrong conclusions. "We were rescuin' Jenna here from some would be attackers an' we were gonna take her home when we realized she had no home to go to. Other than that rickety ol' thing there," I told him, gesturin' to the lil' shanty.

Seth frowned, takin' her hands in his. "You're gonna come stay on my Rez with me, okay? I live with my mom and dad and my annoying older sister, but they'll be happy to take you in. My parents always said they wished they'd had more kids anyway."

Jenna just nodded, nuzzlin' her head into his shoulder as we all began to walk. Then she remembered somethin' an' stopped in her tracks. "My money! I can't leave without it, it's all I have."

I sighed, pullin' out my wallet. I took out twelve crisp hundred dollar bills, puttin' the rest away. "This 'bout equal to what ya had left?"

Her eyes got all big an' she was very surprised an' also a mite curious. "No, that's way more than I had left. I maybe had just barely half that. I can't take your money. Plus it's American money anyway, I don't really know which places accept that and…wait...are we going south of the border?! Because I don't have a passport," she panicked.

Seth kissed her cheek and ran his hand through her hair to calm her down. "Would you believe me if I said I had...an orca on standby?"

"An orca?" she asked, perplexed.

"Yeah, come on, I'll show you." He smiled, twinin' their hands together as he led her off in the direction of a secluded harbor. We followed along at a respectable distance ta give 'em some privacy.

And it became clear, when surely 'nough an orca was hangin' out by the docks as if it were waitin' there, that the orca's mind musta been merged with Billy's. Seth climbed onto its back an' helped Jenna ta do the same, then she looked back at us.

"We'll catch the next orca!" I assured her, wavin' them off. An' in a voice loud enough fer Seth ta hear but too quiet fer Jenna, I added, "Seth, when ya get her across the straight, tell her 'bout all the supernatural stuff, otherwise she'll be in fer a big shock."

He nodded and they set off on the back of a killer whale. Strange but not the strangest thing we'd seen recently.

"Major, we're not actually waiting for another orca, are we?" Victoria asked.

I laughed a lil' at that one. "Nope. We don't need to breathe so we're walkin' the bottom o' the straight like we did on the way here."

And t'was a good thing we'd all invested in waterproof cell phone cases, 'cause as soon as we got back across, my phone started ringin'.

" _Major_?" the voice on the other end said. It was Jill.

"Yeah Jill? Is this a report, Soldier?"

" _Yes Sir. The good news is...our early warning system works. The bad news is, it just triggered. Some sort of a threat just crossed over onto the peninsula_!"

"Dammit! Thank you, Jill. Text me with the rest of the info, we're 'bout to start runnin' back now." I instructed, hangin' up the phone.

I turned to face the others. "We got a problem. Let's head home!"

* * *

 **AN: What do we think of our two new Imprints? About time the wolves benefited from Bella's pendant, right? Next chapter we'll find out who triggered the early warning system. Any guesses? Love to hear your wonderful feedback! ;-***


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